


All for the Game Prompt Fills (drabbles+oneshots)

by Marmeladeskies, noorasdandekar



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andreil, Angst, Erik and Nicky speaking german, Fluff, Grocery Shopping, M/M, Tumblr Prompts, Warnings May Change, aaron being a little shit, andreil being cute af, jean and jeremy being cute, jean has a therapy dog, jerejean fluff, kevin and his health fetish, lots of andreil, more characters and pairings soon hopefully, prompt collection, queen kevin, self harm mentions, send me prompts on tumblr, there will be stuff added, these sad sport gays have taken over my life, they're literally andreil's fluffier counterpart, this is a prompt collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-19 00:46:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 23,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11302251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marmeladeskies/pseuds/Marmeladeskies, https://archiveofourown.org/users/noorasdandekar/pseuds/noorasdandekar
Summary: I asked (and am still asking) people on my tumblr marmelade-sky.tumblr.com to send me aftg prompts. The ones I like will be filled, and I collect them on Tumblr and here.Including: Andreil, lots of Andreil, angst, Nicky being his wonderful self, Aaron being a grumpy grump, the cats, and video games. There will be a chapter added every time I fill a prompt!





	1. Deadpool and dashboard lighters

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is my collection of aftg prompt fills from my blog marmelade-sky.tumblr.com. If you like it, please leave kudos or a little comment! Don't be shy, and it really makes a difference for me :) thank you, have fun.  
> The nsfw prompts are collected in another fic! Go look on my profile if you crave some sexy stuff ;)  
> If you enjoy my writing and have a tiny amount of money to spare, I'd be super stoked if you'd visit my ko-fi page at http://ko-fi.com/marmeladesky :) ♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: the foxes watching Deadpool, Neil having a flashback when Deadpool burns that guy's face with the dashboard lighter and Andrew being there for him

Neil doesn’t care for movies but he watches them with his team because it’s something they do as team, as friends, as a family. Today, they agreed on some superhero movie which Neil has never heard of, but it doesn’t even matter because Nicky and Allison swoon over the main actor until Aaron threatens to throw up into Nicky’s drink, Kevin keeps checking his phone for updates from the sale at Exites, Matt and Dan start making out on the couch after 15 minutes and it’s just so them and it makes Neil’s chest feel like he just had a big mug of tea. He sits next to Andrew on the floor, Andrew is slouching in a bean bag, looking desinterested as ever, but from time to time, Neil feels his fingers on the back of his neck and it gives him goosebumps.

And then there’s a scene with a dashboard lighter and suddenly the warmth in his chest is replaced with the feeling of a brick dropping into his stomach and he can smell the stink of his own burning flesh again and he’s on his feet faster than he can think because running is still the first thing to come to his mind when it comes to surviving.

Lots of things happen at once, Matt shouts his name, Dan yells at Nicky to turn off the TV, Renee quickly tucks her legs back so Neil doesn’t stumble over them but the only thing that matters is Andrew, who is up a second after Neil.

A strong hand grabs the back of Neil’s neck and pulls him out into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind them, and then Neil’s with his back to the wall and Andrew’s hands cradle Neil’s head left and right, not delicately or gently, but with pressure, but it’s what Neil needs, it’s what grounds him and Andrew doesn’t do anything else but be there for him, like a rock, unmoving and unbothered and calm. And eventually Neil’s breath slows down again and the smell in his nose faints and is replaced by Andrew’s scent when Andrew slowly slides a hand to the back of his neck and pulls Neil in until his forehead is resting against Andrew’s shoulder.

When they come back in after some time, the other’s have switched to Finding Nemo and act like nothing happened because they know better than to ask Neil about this while Andrew’s around.


	2. Cousin shenenigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go prompt me!!!! :) marmelade-sky.tumblr.com (i also write smut ;) just saying...)

Nicky’s favourite thing to shop for next to clothes are video games. He and the twins have a little collection- ranging from popular shooters to interesting indie games (which Nicky plays, mostly, but whatever). He can spend hours at gaming stores, browsing through everything they offer. Aaron and Nicky usually share the same taste, but today is no such day. When Nicky holds up a game to show Aaron, the tiny blonde curls his upper lip in disgust. “Isn’t this the one with the gay main character?” Nicky rolls his eyes. “Yeah. But I read that it’s supposed to be really cool, the graphics are-” “No.”, Aaron interrupts him, shaking his head, “I won’t play a fag game.” Nicky huffs and is about to shoot back a retort when Andrew joins them, looking bored as ever. He takes one look at the game which Aaron has picked out, and then one at Nicky’s. Then he grabs Nicky’s and puts it into the already half-filled shopping basket hanging from Nicky’s elbow.  
“Go pay, I’m bored. We’re leaving.”, he says before he turns around and leaves the store to smoke on the curb outside.  
Nicky shoots Aaron a triumphant look before swaggering off to the register.


	3. Kitty betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Neil being jealous.

“Andrew?”

Neil has been running around in their apartment for ten minutes now and he’s slowly losing his patience.   
“Have you seen King?” 

Of course Andrew doesn’t answer because he’s in bed with a book, glasses sliding down his nose. Neil gave it to him and he is happy Andrew seems to like it, but right now, he needs an answer. 

“I’m almost late for his vet appointment! Damn it, King.”, he cusses, and stops in front of the bed, cat box in hand, the other hand on his hips. Andrew’s eyes slowly drag up from the book and he looks at Neil with his usual bored expression.  
“Have you seen him?”, Neil repeats, but still doesn’t get a reply. “Andrew…” 

Right at that moment, something moves under the covers to Andrew’s side, and a little, muffled ‘mrow’ makes Neil let out a noise of relief. He grabs the corner of the covers and yanks, uncovering a dishevelled King and Andrew’s legs, which King has pressed himself to, probably in hope for protection from Neil and the vet.   
Neil puts the cat box down and needs a moment to take in the sight. Andrew has gone back to reading.   
“…did he cuddle up to you?!”, Neil asks after a moment, clearly in disbelief. 

Andrew grunts out a noise which Neil knows to interpret as yes. Neil lunges forward and a moment later, he’s got Kind in his hands. The cat meows unhappily but he’s too soft and nice to scratch (unlike Sir), and so he just settles to glare at his master when Neil holds him up.   
“King, I’m wounded. I’m trying to care for you and you go to Andrew for help. He doesn’t even like you.” Neil knows it’s not true, but it’s kind of everyone’s ongoing inside joke. 

King gives a little mewl, and then has the audacity to put a paw on Neil’s lips. Andrew’s snort at that hurts even more than the cat’s betrayal.


	4. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: shopping for Neil, upperclassmen are fussing over Neil, Neil thinks everything in unnecessary and Andrew just wants to leave

When the Trojans end up in the finals the following year, Jeremy calls Kevin to invite all the Foxes to watch. The upperclassmen, Neil and Nicky are in immediately, Andrew goes wherever Neil goes and Aaron doesn’t want to be the only one who doesn’t go. So they take the drive in their bus, and halfway through, Nicky turns around, grinning at Neil. 

“Did you pack the green button up shirt for the party?” 

Neil gives him a blank look. “What party?”  
Nicky’s smile drops a little. “…did you forget about the after game party?” 

Turns out, Jeremy also invited them to the after game party, which, for the Trojans, is a rather fancy event. Everyone has packed formal clothing- apart from Neil. 

“I can just go like this.”, he says, but Allison and Nicky and even Kevin are having none of it and that’s how Wymack ends up pulling over for the first decent-looking shopping center they spot. Neil keeps trying to convince his friends that it’s really not necessary, but here they are, in the men’s section, Nicky and Allison pulling out shirts and slacks for Neil. Dan, Matt and Renee provide commentary (”Ugh, get that red shirt away from him.”, “Looking fancy, bro!”, “I think the blue really compliments your eyes, Neil.”), while Kevin eventually wanders off to the sports section and Aaron, annoyed as ever, leaves the store to smoke and call Katelyn. Andrew hovers in the background, and eventually sits down on one of the waiting chairs. He’s clearly bored, even for his standards, but as long as Neil is being held hostage by the upperclassmen, there’s no way Andrew will leave. Neil tries on the stuff they give him (protesting, but still- never go down without a fight-), and they critique the outfits, rating them 1-10. 

Eventually, Neil steps out for the 5th time, in navy, slightly skinny slacks and a matching, light blue shirt with a barely visible pattern. 

He looks around to his friends, but before even Nicky can open his mouth, Andrew’s voice startled everyone. “This one.”   
Neil looks to him, a little surprised, while the upperclassmen and Nicky share glances. 

Neil can see fire in Andrew’s eyes, and he knows that this outfit will look just as good on the floor of their shared hotel room later.


	5. Angsty Ouchies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: sleeping on the couch together and matt kinda scares andrew awake and andrew has a tiny panic and shoves neil off the couch and neil smacks his head against something and scrapes his cheekbone and andreil ends up sitting in the bathroom with neil sitting down and andrew making sure his boy didnt break his nose or have another fucking concussion

They’ve cuddled in on the couch, Neil in front of Andrew, which is a rare occurrence as it is, but it’s even rarer at the dorms. But Andrew has been sniffling and sneezing lately, and Neil’s legs feel like lead from night practice and so they dozed off while watching tv. None of them is really deeply asleep, both of them in a state somewhere between sleep and rest, but it’s more than enough to startle the shit out of them when suddenly the door slams shut. 

Andrew sits up, body stiffened immediately, curtesy of too many times when a noise like this meant very bad things were coming, and whips his head around, only to see Matt, one hand still on the doorknob, wincing guiltily. “Fuck, sorry, guys. The wind caught the door.” Then he peeks around Andrew, “Um, is Neil-”

Andrew scowls at him, and growls “Leave.”, Matt just lifts his hands apologetically and hurries off. When Andrew turns back around, he is momentarily confused for a split-second- where is Neil? But then he hears a groan and realized he must have pushed Neil off the couch when he jerked awake. Neil is already sitting up and rubbing his face.   
“…ouch.”, the striker mumbles sleepily and looks up at Andrew with bleary eyes. Andrew is about to lean down and pull Neil back up, but then, Neil pulls his hand back, and there’s blood on his palm and on a cut on his cheekbone. 

Andrew’s world constricts for a moment, and then a sticky, disgusting feeling spreads through his body. Neil is hurt. Neil is bleeding. He pushed Neil off the couch and now Neil is bleeding. Fuck. 

Neil looks at his hand in awe, still sleepy, and then wipes it off on his jeans. It’s so little that it barely leaves a stain. But Andrew’s gaze is focused on the cut in his cheekbone.   
“Andrew, I’m f-”

“Don’t.” Andrew’s voice is sharp and then he’s up and dragging Neil into the bathroom while his stomach is churning. Neil keeps insisting that he’s okay, and the cut isn’t even deep and he’s barely bleeding and he’s had so much worse.

But Andrew feels like his hands are going to clench so hard that he’s going to break his own fingers if he can’t make sure Neil is really, truly okay right now. He swore to protect him and now he hurt him. Neil, especially Neil’s face, has been through enough already.   
Neil keeps protesting, but Andrew makes him sit down on the edge of the tub, and then searches the bathroom cabinet for desinfectant and a band-aid, throwing everything else out into the sink carelessly. Neil has stopped protesting, and watches him quietly now. 

When Andrew’s found what he’s been looking for, he steps in between Neil’s legs, and takes his face in his palms, turning Neil’s head, looking at his pupils, his nose, his lips and teeth. Nothing else seems hurt, and that makes the sticky feeling in his chest the tiniest bit better. 

Quietly, he wipes the cut clean, and puts a band-aid on it. Then he steps back and takes his hands off Neil as if Neil burnt him.   
Neil looks at him and Andrew wants to punch him or pull his own hair out because the way Neil’s blue eyes focus on him and his lower lip stands out a little makes his heart go faster and it sucks and Andrew just hates him so much. 

“Andrew…” How can someone’s voice be so soft? Fuck Josten and his soft voice. Andrew turns around and goes to the door. Neil lets him. 

—

And hour and half a pack of cigarettes later, Neil finds him on the roof. He doesn’t say anything, he just sits down next to him and steals his cigarette.   
He finishes it while Andrew stares off in the distance. After Neil has stubbbed the cigarette out, he slowly turns to look at Andrew. 

“Andrew, I’m okay. Things like this happen. You didn’t-”

“Stop talking.”, Andrew says without looking at Neil. Neil obliges, but he doesn’t take his eyes off Andrew. 

After two minutes or five or ten, Neil opens his mouth again.  
“…you could kiss it better, if you wanted to.” His voice is a low purr, and Andrew just hates how easily it makes the sticky feeling turn differently sticky, hot like molasses, from his neck to the bottom of his spine and his lower abdomen.

Andrew slowly turns his head and leans in just a little. The eagerness with which Neil shifts towards him and the way his breath hitches just a little makes the feeling Andrew’s dealing with right now even worse. Or better, maybe. 

“Next time you say something this cheesy, I’ll throw you off the roof.”, he growls, and then closes the gap between their mouths.


	6. Morning Fluff with a side of homophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is one of the fluffy prompts I got, most prompts were quite angsty. So, enjoy! Go prompt me!!!! :) marmelade-sky.tumblr.com (i also write smut ;) just saying...)

Fox vacation was something that became a tradition. The location stayed the same because they liked knowing their way around the vacation spot in the Smokies, and the pleasant memories of their first trip there a year ago still lingered. 

Since then, a lot had happened. Life was easier now with Riko dead, Neil’s head out of every sling, and Andrew perpetually at his side, always the unmoved, stable rock. Their relationship had evolved gradually. The “I hate you”s had become less and less hard until they were soft enough that they both knew ‘hate’ was just the subsitute for another four letter word both of them didn’t trust enough to say out loud. Their touches had moved from hard and hasty to sometimes soft, sometimes intense, and sometimes so hot that it had both of them scalding inside. Neil couldn’t imagine anything better than this. 

 

Recently, Andrew had also started being slightly affectionate in front of others. Not out in public, of course, but their teammates were alright. It was never kisses or touches that lingered longer than some seconds, and Neil never pressured or asked for anything. He knew Andrew had to find his own way into this kind of soft intimacy, and Neil was ready to let him. He took what he could get, and was satisfied with it. 

 

The first time Andrew had put his arm around Neil with the team around, Nicky had almost fallen out of his chair, but Matt and the girls had silenced him before he could even say anything about it. Noone wanted to disturb the peace those two broken boys had found with each other. 

Well, noone but Aaron. The other Minyard had never been a big fan of Nicky being gay and had often told him rudely to “be less of a fag” and other equally nice things. Nicky was good at ignoring those remarks, rolling his eyes and moving on, but Neil knew how much it hurt Nicky inside. He had heard Nicky talk about it on the phone with Erik several times, trying to excuse Aaron’s behaviour, but failing to hide the sadness and lingering, old guilt in his voice. 

 

With Neil and Andrew, Aaron didn’t have such an easy time. Aaron knew full well that Andrew wouldn’t react like Nicky to his homophobic comments, so he usually went with glares, eyerolls and scoffs which Neil ignored and Andrew regarded with stony looks of his own. 

 

Neil was indifferent to Aaron’s childish behaviour. As long as he had Andrew, nothing could touch him. Andrew was his shield, still keeping a promise he had given a long time ago. It was scary how much he trusted Andrew, but it was the good kind of scary, like standing on a diving platform right before jumping into the pool. 

 

The third morning of their vacation was starting slow after they had watched a cheesy Exy movie last night. It had been thoroughly cheesy and Kevin had almost pulled his hair out over the inaccuracy and the shitty technique in the game scenes (”They’re actors, Kevin.” - “I don’t fucking care! That would have never fucking scored in real life!”), until they had decided on making a drinking game out of it, which had left all of them rather hammered. Kevin had spent the night on the couch. 

 

So now, everyone was rather ruffled. Dan and Matt were cuddling on the couch with Renee (the only one who looked fresh and not hungover) by their side, nursing coffee mugs and munching on granola bars, Allison was sitting on the kitchen counter with her eyes unfocused and too much make up on, Nicky was still asleep and Kevin was currently doing push-ups in the middle of the living room, looking like he’d throw up in between any moment now. Neil was fixing a coffee for himself and another one for Andrew, planning on bringing it up to their room, and wondering why Kevin was such a masochist, when suddenly, someone touched him from behind, hands on his hips. A whispered “Yes or no?” by his ear drew a cheesy smile onto Neil’s lips as he nodded. “Yes. …good morning.” 

“Morning.” 

Andrew’s arms slung around his waist, and then his head rested between Neil’s shoulderblades, his small but sturdy form pressed against Neil from behind, chest moving as he breathed deeply, still sleepy. 

Allison caught Neil’s eyes, suddenly looking much more awake, gave him the most beaming smile she could muster, and then gently and carefully slid off the counter to leave the kitchen. Neil was sure the other Foxes also had their eyes on them through the open doorway, but it didn’t matter. He was comfortable with them seeing him and Andrew like this.

Neil fixed their coffees, splashing a bit of milk into his, and putting a significantly bigger amount into Andrew’s, as well as two heaping spoons full of sugar. He purposely drew out the process, moving slowly, to keep Andrew where he was right now.

Right when he was ready to turn around in the hug and offer Andrew his coffee, steps came down the stairs, and Aaron appeared on the bottom of the stairwell. He looked rather ruffled and grumpy, and when he saw Neil and Andrew standing like this, he halted and his expression became a mix of disgust and annoyance, and he gave a sound that was similiar to a retch. 

Neil could feel Andrew’s head leave the crook between his shoulders. “Got something to say, brother?”, he asked, voice flat as ever. 

Aaron just glared for another moment instead of replying, and then turned on his heels and stormed back up the stairs.

Neil could hear the girls on the couch chuckle.


	7. Never Have I Ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: drug abuse mentions. 
> 
> prompt me!!! :) marmelade-sky.tumblr.com

Drinking games always derailed after some time for the Foxes, and when Allison suggested they play “Never Have I Ever” (which Neil had never heard of before), everyone decided they could, since noone would remember anything tomorrow anyway. They did agree on boundaries since the night would come to a rather abprupt halt if someone got triggered, but the alcohol helped to losen their tongues, and after explaining the rules to Neil, they were good to go.

 

They started out with easy stuff, which Allison and Nicky deemed boring, like “Never have I ever broken something while playing Exy.” or “Never have I ever fallen asleep in class.” but soon moved to sexual stuff with Nicky (”Never have I ever slept with a person of the opposite sex…- stop rolling your eyes and drink, Aaron!”) only to be pulled back into innocence with Kevin, who was consecutively banned from using Exy as topic for his suggestions. 

 

Aaron hummed for a moment. “…are drugs off the limit?”, he asked after a thinking for a bit. Everyone just shrugged, most of them had their fair share of experience with drugs, and those who had been too deep were alright with the topic by now. 

 

“Alright,” Aaron nodded, “umm… never have I ever used heroin.”

 

A cold feeling trickled down Neil’s back like water. He tasted copper in his mouth and saw his mother’s face over him, a syringe in hand, holding him down to keep him from moving too much. ‘It’s gonna stop hurting any minute now, Nathan.” and the warm, all-consuming high which came after, pushing the pain away into a far corner of his brain. 

Matt snapped him into reality again when he dryly said “Guilty as charged.”, and lifted his drink to his lips, as did, surprisingly, Renee. Neil followed their movement mechanically, imitating it, and taking a sip of his own drink. The circle went quiet and everyone looked at him for a long, long second. Neil’s skin felt too tight, suddenly, and he stared down at his hands. 

But then Andrew leaned over into his side just a little so their shoulders touched, and Renee’s gently said “Never have I ever been to curch.”, and the game went on. Neil let out a deep breath and relaxed into Andrew slightly. 

 

Later, in the dark, he told the whole story to Andrew, and then let him wipe the bad memories away with firm hands and hot kisses.


	8. Jealous Andrew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: jealous!Andrew. This one turned out slightly nsfw! 
> 
> Prompt me on marmelade-sky.tumblr.com

It had been a bit unfortunate. For some reason, Neil had been coaxed into telling Nicky and the girls about his first kiss (”Wait- you’ve kissed GIRLS?!”), and Andrew had overheard it. 

Later that night, when Neil sidled up to Andrew with a plan to end the night in the nicest way possible, his “Yes or No?” before he leaned in to press his lips to Andrew’s had been answered by a “Why don’t you go kiss some girl instead?”.  
Andrew had left Neil standing in the kitchen, sauntering off with a tub of ice cream.

Now Neil lay awake in his bed, staring at the bottom of Andrew’s bunk above him, wondering what could be wrong. The reaction had been so unlike Andrew, and Neil was thoroughly confused- and felt guilt. He wasn’t sure why, it wasn’t like he could change the past and un-kiss those girls somehow, but still, his stomach was churning with the feeling of having done something wrong. He remembered his mother beating him, yelling at him to stay away from girls.   
At two in the morning, Neil was still awake. His eyes were itching and he was contemplating going for a run, when the door creaked open, letting in a sliver of light, and socked feet dragged heavy steps over the carpet towards Neil’s bed. 

Andrew grabbed him and hurled him out of bed, and Neil followed. He rubbed his eyes as the blonde pulled him to the desk where Kevin’s laptop sat, opened and running.   
“How’d you know his password?”, Neil asked, voice a little rough around the edges. His heart was thumping in his chest, hoping for an explanation.  
“It’s Kevin.”, Andrew replied dryly, “It was Exy1234. Sit.”

He pulled out a chair and Neil sank down into it. He was facing the laptop now, and even more confused than before. “Andrew, what-”

“Watch.” Andrew handed Neil Kevin’s huge headphones, and Neil put them on obediently. Andrew typed something into the search bar, and then turned the laptop around to Neil, who immediately ripped the headphones off his head and pushed the laptop away. “Andrew!” 

Andrew stood, watching him, arms crossed and an inquisite look in his eyes. “Yes or no?” 

“Andrew, I’m not watching porn in our living room.”

Andrew just kept glaring at him. Neil glared back. Then, he let his gaze sink a little, looking towards the laptop again. Andrew had put on straight porn. The focus of the camera was on the lingerie-clad butt of a blond woman who was on all fours and looking back over her shoulder with a cocky smile, spreading her legs a little.   
Neil felt his cheeks heat up. “Why do you want me to watch this?”, he asked and turned to look at Andrew again.   
“You kissed girls.”, Andrew replied, as if that was the answer to everything, and in a way, it was. 

Neil felt his expression soften. “…they didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t even fun, not like it is with you.”  
Andrew’s jaw was working as he stared Neil down.   
Neil reached out and closed the laptop. “I said I don’t swing, and it’s still true, apart from you. You’re the only one I want.” 

“Junkie.”, Andrew muttered under his breath, but Neil was relieved to see the stony look in his eyes subside.

He grinned up at him and reached out for his hips. “I’d rather look at you all day than watch this crap.” He pointed over his shoulder at the closed laptop.   
Andrew rolled his eyes, but grabbed Neil’s hands and put them on his hipbones. 

Neil looked up at Andrew from under his lashes triumphantly. “Yes or no?”   
Andrew scoffed and grunted “Yes.” and a moment later, Neil had already undone the bow of his sweatpants. 

—

When Kevin opened his laptop the next morning, he almost had a heart attack, and flushed a shade of red none of them had ever seen on his cheeks. Neil didn’t miss the amused gleam in Andrew’s eyes.


	9. Snack Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: monsters going for a snack run

Midnight snack runs are the usual, but mid-day snack runs aren’t very uncommon either, especially on Saturdays after games. When they don’t go to Columbia after the game, they drink at home and then sleep in until noon. 

“I’m hungry….”, Nicky whines, bending down over the fridge, “All we have left is tomato juice, cucumbers and- ew, Kevin, what’s this?” 

Kevin, who is trying to do squats and miserably failing, looking like he’s gonna throw up any minute, presses out “Protein Bread.” through his clenched teeth. Nicky makes a disgusted noise and throws the package back into the fridge and closes it. 

“I’m going to the store.”, he declares, hands on his hips, “…and I’m not bringing anything back for any of you. Come with me if you need something.” 

So they end up invading the on-campus store. The cashiers eye them suspiciously, and Nicky flashes them a bright smile which only makes them look more sceptic. 

Neil realizes too late that the shirt he’s wearing is Andrew’s, and thus, a little too short. He pulls his sweatpants higher and ignores the scowls Aaron gives him.

Andrew systematically avoids the fruit and veggie isle (Neil puts peaches, a melon and strawberries onto the pile of leafy greens Kevin has chosen) and goes off to the dessert isle. He comes back with arms full of candy; chocolate, gummy bears, twizzlers, marshmellows, ice cream and cookies. The pile is topped off with something called “dessert pizza” which looks disgusting on the picture already and is absolutely something Andrew would eat for breakfast. Neil grins to himself as Kevin eyes the items Andrew puts into the cart with disgust. 

“You can’t be serious, Andrew. Not even you can eat all of this by yourself.”

Aaron rolls his eyes and wanders off. 

Andrew just looks up at Kevin with his usual bored expression. “Fucking watch me.” 

Kevin just huffs but doesn’t say anything else. Neil shoots Andrew a look and grin behind Kevin’s back. “Disgusting.”, he says to tease Andrew, who just shrugs. 

“And yet you seemed ratehr eager to lick chocolate from the corner of my mouth last week.”, he deadpans and Neil flushes crimson.

“Ah, young love.”, Nicky says behind them, and at the same time, Aaron gives a retching sound. 

A girl who is in the isle with them eyes them weirdly. Neil holds her gaze until she looks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave kudos if you liked it :) it really makes a difference


	10. Neil's scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Neil talks about being insecure about the scars to Andrew, mentions plastic surgery.

One morning Andrew finds Neil in the bathroom, the door half-open. He steps into the doorway, because he knows Neil doesn’t mind, and leans against the doorframe to watch Neil. 

His shoulders are rolling while he washes his face, he’s bent over forward over the sink, and Andrew drags his eyes all over Neil’s muscled back, down to his firm, currently sweatpants-clad butt and back up to the mop of auburn hair. Neil’s lean and, frankly, hot as fuck, and Andrew has learned to live with the fact that he, too, is a junkie. 

When Neil stands upright again, drying off his face and then looking into the mirror, for a split-second, he startles at the sight of someone behind him in the mirror, but then his face lights up and he smiles at Andrew in that awful, sickly cute fucking way that makes Andrew want to punch him, or maybe kiss him senseless.

“Hey.”, Neil says. 

“Hey.”, Andrew replies in the same tone of voice. Neil gives him another smile, “I’ll be ready in a minute.” Andrew just nods and waits.

Neil leans forward towards the mirror, inspecting his skin for impurities, and frowns at his own reflection. His fingers ghost over the burn mark under his eye, and the deeper scars the cuts left behind. “…you know… I’ve been thinking about getting them removed.”, he confesses and scowls, eyebrows drawn together. “Matt’s dad… he could do that.” Neil’s eyes find Andrew’s in the mirror. 

Andrew lets him talk, and steps closer when Neil is finished. Neil turns around to him, leaning against the sink, chewing on his lip with vulnerable insecurity in his eyes that’s only reserved for when he feels able to open up. 

Andrew reaches out and runs his thumb over the thickest scar, and then presses the pad of his thumb into the burn mark. Neil looks down at Andrew’s chest and grabs his wrist gently, holding on to him, and it makes Andrew’s stupid heart jump more than when he stands at the edge of the roof or punches someone in the face. 

“Would you do it for yourself or for them?” They both know who ‘they’ are; journalists, fans, possible future coaches and teams. 

Neil’s adam’s apple bobs when he swallows and then he looks up at Andrew again. “…I… I don’t know.” 

“Figure it out, and we’ll talk about it then.” Andrew’s hand runs back to find Neil’s nape, and Neil’s shoulders lose some of the tension they’ve been holding, making him slump a little and exhale in a sigh. 

“Don’t you think they’re ugly?”, he asks, and his eyes flicker up to Andrew’s.

Andrew lightly slaps the back of Neil’s head. “Don’t talk stupid shit.” 

A smile spreads on Neil’s face, and he rolls his eyes, and Andrew has to pull him into a kiss really quick because otherwise, he might smile back one of these days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave kudos if you liked it, or comment. Don't be shy, please. It really makes a difference and me very happy <3


	11. Soft butt touches (very mildly nsfw)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon wanted me to write Andreil with Andrew bottoming, but I couldn't bring myself to just throw out a sex scene with Andrew bottoming 'just like that'. So here is how he realizes that, some day, maybe, he will be ready for it again. It's fluffy. :) have fun.

It starts slowly, with blinks of images in Andrew’s head, scaring the fuck out of him at first. Neil’s eyes anchor him when they’re in bed, they make him feel real, and safe, and so far away from everything bad that’s happened.

It takes years, and they progress slowly, very slowly. But they do progress. 

They go to therapy together now. Have been, for years.

Andrew hugs Neil from time to time.

Bad words aren’t bad anymore when they come out of Neil’s mouth.

Their bodies work together, like a well-oiled machine. They know each other’s favourite spots, what makes each other fly over the edge the fastest or keeps them there longer, making toes curl and eyes flutter shut.

Neil is allowed to touch him anywhere he wants now, as long as Andrew says yes first, of course. Soft fingertips running over Andrew’s shoulders, his arms, carressing the scars, running over Andrew’s neck (making him hum), down his spine and over his thighs. He doesn’t tense up anymore. Neil is allowed to touch his ass as well, and Neil does it in the best way possible. Gentle and soft, never harsh or rough, never like the others. He tells Andrew how proud he is of him and gently massages the soft flesh until Andrew relaxes.  
And Andrew keeps going back to those moments sometimes, and finds that, even when he replays them in his mind and takes them apart, he’s still comfortable with the touches. 

He talks to Betsy about it. She’s not his primary therapist anymore, but she’s still there for him when he needs her. He can hear her smile over the phone when she tells him to take it slow and talk to Neil.

One night, when they are cuddled together on the couch (because cuddling is something they do now) and Neil’s right hand is stroking Sir while his left hand rests gently on Andrew’s butt, gently cupping his buttock in such a casual, soft way without any sexual intentions, Andrew looks at him for a long moment.  
Neil catches his eyes, and smiles. “What?”

“I’ll be ready one day. Maybe soon. Maybe not. I don’t know yet.”, Andrew says, and when Neil looks a bit confused, he clarifies, “To switch.”

“Oh.”, Neil’s cheeks blush a little, and his smile broadens. “Alright. Take your time. I’ll wait for you.”

They kiss. 

It’s good.


	12. They're good for and with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Andreil being fluffy af + Foxes. Enjoy!

Andrew and Neil are good with each other, and good for each other. 

At first, everyone is a little concerned, because Neil… and Andrew?! How is that supposed to work?

But, turns out, it does.

They fit, and one after the other, the Foxes realize that.

-

Kevin is the first to see it.   
He doesn’t say anything, of course, because as long as it stays off the court, it’s nothing to bother with.  
He can see how they share glances, how Neil takes Andrew seriously and sees through his hard facade.  
He can see how Andrew looks at Neil when he thinks noone is watching.

-

Renee notices shortly after.  
She smiles and listens and nods when Andrew talks about Neil. It’s never much, it’s just little mentions or something Neil said or did.  
Renee lets them figure it out for themselves, but secretly, she prays every night that the two of them find what they need in each other.

-

After it’s obvious, the other Foxes notice as well.  
Matt watches Neil and Andrew communicate without words so much that he starts asking himself if the two of them have mastered the art of reading each other’s minds. Neil nods to Andrew’s pockets with a questioning look, and Andrew hands him the pack of cigarettes, and then points upwards with his thumb, and Neil nods and they’re off, and Matt stares after them, a smile slowly spreading on his lips. 

-

Dan snaps pictures when she can. She always shows them to Neil afterwards and asks him if she can hang them up on their wall. There is one of Andrew and Neil on the bus, taken from behind, Andrew with his arm over the backrest of Neil’s seat, Neil leaning his head against Andrew’s shoulders. Dan smiles at it for a long time when she prints it out, and gives Neil a copy for himself.

-

Allison watches Andrew pick a little stray piece of yarn off Neil’s suit jacket right before the winter banquet, and straighten his tie.   
She grabs Renee’s hand and squeezes so she doesn’t squeal because that’s the cutest thing she’s ever seen.

-

Nicky finds them curled into the beanbags one morning, and he grins so hard that his jaw starts hurting while he tiptoes through the room to the kitching, trying hard not to wake them.   
Andrew is splayed out on his back, Neil is curled into himself like a cat, and they are holding hands. 

-

Aaron doesn’t understand why the others think it’s cute.   
But when he walks in on Andrew hugging Josten from behind, he can’t help but notice how relaxed his brother looks right before he sees him and tenses up.   
He turns on his heels and leaves them alone.   
Katelyn later tells him to be happy for Andrew, because, apparently, she thinks Josten is a decent person.   
Aaron doesn’t know.  
But seeing Andrew being less miserable around him is an okay feeling.


	13. Jean meeting Jeremy's parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay, a jerejean prompt! finally :) The prompt was Jean meeting Jeremy's parents with lots of fluff, so here you go <3 enjoy. and thank you to all the people who left kudos or a comment. It means a lot to me <3

“Do I look okay?”, Jean asks for the 100th time, and for the 100th time, Jeremy tells him yes, he does look okay. Jean looks more than okay, but Jeremy doesn’t say that out loud. 

Jean is wearing a button up shirt, light blue, and the way it’s tight around his chest and biceps makes Jeremy want to just grab his arms and hold on to them. 

They’re waiting for their luggage at the airport. It has taken Jeremy a long time trying to convince Jean to come home with Jeremy for the holidays, but he’s eventually persuaded him into it. 

“You really don’t need to be nervous about meeting my parents, Jean.”, Jeremy reassures him (also for the 100th time). “They’ll love you. My dad will probably talk about nothing but Exy to you and Ma will stuff you with food until you burst. That’s the worst possible outcome of this.” 

Jean shoots him a nervous smile and rubs the back of his neck. “Still.” 

“It’s gonna be fine.”, Jeremy tells him firmly with another bright smile, “Oh look, our suitcases!” 

 

-

 

Mrs Knox is a round, sweet southern lady who carries a handbag as big as a suitcase, wears a little too much lipstick and hugs Jean immediately upon seeing him, even before Jeremy. 

“You must be Jean! Our boy has been telling us so much about you!” She pushes him away to arm’s length, holding on to his shoulders, and gives him the same beaming smile that Jean often sees on her son’s face: open, warm and sweet. “What a handsome fella!”

“Ma…!”, Jeremy blushes and shakes his head with a sheepish grin. 

“Th-thank you, Mrs Knox. Thanks for having me.”, Jean stutters, blushing as well and a little overwhelmed, but smiling back. 

“Oh, knock that right off, darlin’! Call me Darlene!” 

Jean is a little overwhelmed but laughs just like Jeremy does. Luckily, Mr. Knox, who seems a little less excitable leans in to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, son.” 

Jean nods and smiles politely. “Thank you, sir. Really, thank you for having me.”

“Let’s get you boys home, you sure look hungry! Don’t they feed you at college?” Mrs Knox pinches her sons cheek, “I made some fried chicken for you. Jeremy, take Jean’s bag! He’s your guest!”

 

-

 

It’s like a proper sleepover, and it’s great. Jean sleeps on a guest bed in Jeremy’s room because the Knox’s house doesn’t have a guest room since all of Jeremy’s siblings are home. Neither of them minds, though. They’ve been rooming together for a year now, it would probably feel weird not to hear each other breathe at night. 

“Your parents are really nice.” Jean stares at the ceiling in the dark. 

Jeremy chuckles lightly. “I guess. They like you.” 

Jean can’t help but smile and wonder why that makes him so happy. 

 

-

 

Some days later, Jean wakes up before Jeremy, and decides to go downstairs to see if there’s tea (Mrs. Knox is always up at the ass crack of dawn, apparently).

There are voices in the kitchen, and Jean is about to knock and enter politely, when he overhears something.

“…a nice fella. I wouldn’t mind if Jerry liked him.” It sounds like Mrs. Knox is on the phone. “…uh-huh… yeah… exactly… better than that football player when he was still in high school. …yeah, that one!” She scoffs, “I said to him, I said, Jerry, you need a man who treats ya right. …yeah! Much better. And he’s french! Isn’t that exotic?” She giggles like a school girl and Jean feels his cheeks heat up. “…nah, I won’t say anything. These kids need to figure that out themselves!” Mrs Knox clucked and hummed, “But, Brenda, let me tell you, the way they look at each other… there’s a whole lotta sparks flying!” She laughs, and Jean finally snaps out of his frozen state. 

Slowly, he turns around and then hurries up the stairs as silently as possible. 

He locks himself in the bathroom for half an hour, sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, and goes downstairs again only when his heart has stopped beating up into his throat. 

Later, when he’s eating cereal and Jeremy enters in sweatpants and the crop top he sleeps in, and Jean’s cheeks tinge just the tiniest bit of pink, Mrs Knox throws them a knowing smile.


	14. "So, what if I *do* love you?" (J+J)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt is in the title, folks :) enjoyyyy and send me prompts on tumblr! marmelade-sky.tumblr.com <3

It starts out as a joke. 

“I know, you love me.”, Jeremy grins when he brings Jean chicken noodle soup from the store when he’s ill.   
Jean chokes on the soup and gives his best effort to glare at Jeremy, but Jeremy just laughs and put another pack of tissues onto Jean’s nightstand. 

 

-

“I hate you.”, Jean growls when he’s on the court on all fours, panting heavily after running through all the drills without a pause because he complained about Trojan drills being too easy one too many times. “Nah, you love me.”, Jeremy teases and sticks out his hand to help him up. “Come on, Hulk. Let’s get you some water.” 

-

 

“He loves me.”, Jeremy slurrs and giggles, “…looooooooves me, Alvarez, I tell you.” He hooks his arm around Jean’s shoulder and Jean holds him up, patting his chest. Alvarez chuckles and looks at Jean with a mix of amusement and concern. “Maybe you should bring him to bed.” Jean agrees and ends up carrying a very excited and happy-drunk Jeremy back to their dorm, fireman style.

 

-

 

It goes on like that for months. The jokes stop weirding Jean out. He also doesn’t flinch anymore when someone comes close to him and doesn’t startle when someone laughs. He learns that it’s alright to eat candy from time to time, or have hobbies and things for himself.

He learns about softness again. Soft shirts, soft pillows, soft touches, soft words. 

He gets a therapy dog. His name is Teddy, he’s a golden lab and he sleeps in bed with him. Jeremy and Teddy get along perfectly and Jeremy feeds Teddy chicken when he thinks Jean doesn’t see. 

Jeremy is so present, and he’s like a warm whirlwind in Jean’s life, all smiles and friendly words and encouragements. 

He helps Jean with his english assignment. He lends Jean his Harry Potter-books and makes him watch the Lord of the Rings movies (Jean loves them). He sometimes brings Jean stuff from the store, with “I thought you might like it” as a reason. He lets Jean sleep with his head on his shoulder when they’re waiting for their flight. He runs his fingers through Jean’s hair to help him fall asleep after a nightmare. 

 

-

 

“Did you walk Teddy already?”, Jean asks one evening when he comes home from a particularly long class and the lab is fast asleep in his bed while Jeremy is brooding over an assignment at his desk. 

Jeremy looks up and flashes him a lopsided smile. “Yeah.”

“…thank you.”, Jean says after a moment of quiet, a bit taken aback by Jeremy’s never-ending kindness. 

“Don’t worry, I know you love me.” Jeremy flashes him another smile an turns back to his assignment.

Jean stands in the doorway, looking from Teddy to Jeremy and back, and then, before he can lose his courage, says: “What if I do love you?” 

Jeremy turns around so quickly in his chair that he almost falls over, and looks at him with wide eyes. 

A stupid, nervous laughter makes its way up Jean’s throat, and that makes Jeremy’s expression go from surprised to a big, happy smile. 

“You idiot! I’ve been trying to flirt with you for ages!” The smile turns into laughter and Jean can’t help but laugh, too.

“Really? I never noticed! I just thought you were being nice!”

Jeremy facepalms and laughs so hard that his shoulders start shaking. “I told you I liked your abs once!”

“I thought that was just… I don’t know, sportsmanship!” Jean drops his bag and is bold enough to take two steps towards Jeremy and reach out to take his hand a little insecurely. Jeremy meets him halfway.

Jeremy is still laughing but now he looks up at Jean, fingers curling into his. “Well… I’m glad we talked about it, then.” 

“Yeah, me too.”, Jean says, and then they just stand there for a moment, still chuckling and holding hands.


	15. Allison/Neil being bros

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay, brotp :) enjoy

Being friends with Allison was good. It was easy and nice, because Allison knew when to blabber and knew when to shut up. She was always honest, no matter if what she had to say was brutal or nice. 

“You need new clothes. And preferrably, something other than black.”, she stated one day at lunch. Andrew next to Neil threw her a glare, which she pointedly ignored. 

Neil looked down on his body. He was wearing a black hoodie, jeans and sneakers. “What’s wrong with these-”

She cut him off. “Nuh-uh. Shopping. Today.” 

They took Allison’s pink porsche to the mall and she dragged him into the biggest men’s store she could find where she started piling clothes into his arms. 

“Andrew always dresses you in black.”, she scolded, and Neil wanted to say Andrew didn’t dress him, but she kept talking, “I mean, I get it, it’s his aesthetics. And it looks cool when you’re together and stuff I guess. But you need color!”

To emphazise, tossed a green shirt on top of the pile. 

Neil shrugged. “Isn’t black, like, the go-to thing in fashion?” 

Allison scoffed. “Yeah, but all black all the time makes you look emo, and you’re too pretty for that. Come on, try that on.”

-

Allison did have a good taste in clothes. Of course she did, studying fashion design and all. But still, Neil was surprised when he saw his reflection in one of the outfits she picked. 

The jeans were tighter than he usually wore, black and skinny and stuffed into heavy anthrazyt boots which contrasted the skinny leg of the jeans. The shirt over it was a teal henley. Neil tugged the sleeves forward until they covered his hands before stepping out behind the curtain.

Allison squealed when she saw him. “Neil! You look really hot!” She took out her phone and snapped a picture before standing up to tousle his hair a little more. “Like a model, seriously. Let me just… can I?” She reached out for the sleeves of his shirt and gave him a questioning look. 

Neil bit his lip. “…I like them this long. Otherwise, my scars will show.”

Allison’s expression softened a little. “Sorry, of course.” She took her hands back. She seemed to think for a moment. “You know, I know you’re self-conscious about them. But I just want you to know that scars can be beutiful, too. You can make them beautiful.” 

Neil shook his head weakly. He knew she meant well, but… “I don’t feel like they can. They’re… they remind me of all the bad things that happened, my father, Riko, and all.” 

“…which you survived.”, Allison added gently. She reached out and put her hand under his chin to make him look up. “Listen, Josten, this is gonna be really cheesy now, but hear me out: you are a beautiful person. We love you, the Foxes loves you, your monster loves you and your fans love you. People even think you’re hot. Not that you should get your self-worth from that, but it’s still nice to know. Your scars will never change that, because who you are and why you’re beautiful comes from here.” She poked his chest with her manicured fingernail. 

Neil couldn’t help but grin as a warm feeling spread through him. Friendship. Support. “That was really cheesy.” 

“I know. Now shut up or I’ll bring you something that’s midriff-free.” She grinned back and cocked her head, “…although… that might help with winning Andrew over.” 

Neil threw a discarded shirt at her.


	16. A mousy Surprise (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got a prompt about Neil mentioning something he wants, and Andrew remembering it later. Got a lil carried away with it so here it is <3 part two follows next. Enjoy!

“I’ve never been to an amusement park.”  
“You wanna go to one?”  
Neil shrugs. “Dunno. Would probably be too much right now. Too many people and everything. Maybe some day.”  
“Maybe some day.”

-

[7 years later]  
“Pack a bag, Neil.”   
“Where are we going?”  
“You’ll see when we get there.”  
“But- … will we be away for longer? The cats-”  
“Are taken care of. Now go pack.”

-

Neil frowns out of the window for the whole drive. They drive, because flying still sucks, and Andrew likes seeing the suspense in Neil’s face build.   
They pass the Florida border, and Neil’s guessing. “The beach?” The beach hasn’t been a problem for some time now. They’re both doing so well. And Andrew can even admit they deserve this. 

He just hums non-commitantly. Neil furrows his eyebrows and sighs.   
They reach Orlando, and by the look on Neil’s face, Andrew can tell he still has no clue where they’re going. He doesn’t expect it at all. “Open the glove compartment.”  
Neil does, and an envelope falls out. He turns it over and looks at it. Andrew sees from the corner of his eyes that Neil pales a bit as he rips it open.   
Neil pulls out the reservation documents Andrew has printed out. They stop at a red light and Andrew watches Neil read it. And then read it again, eyeing the stylized mouse ears on the corner of the paper. 

“Is this real?”, Neil asks and looks up at Andrew, deer in the headlight, still the same as all those years before, with the difference that now, Andrew can admit to himself that he likes this look. And this man. 

“Of course, why would it not be?” Andrew rounds a corner with his maserati, and they can already see the huge billboards showing the way.   
“Cause it’s… that’s… huge.”, Neil replies and he sounds so in disbelief. “How did you even know…?” 

“You told me you never went to an amusement park, and we agreed that some day, we’d go.”, Andrew recalls flawlessly. “Once we were ready. And we are now.” Neil’s been ready for a little longer than Andrew, but they’ve both come a long way. 

Neil is quiet for a long time. They pass the billboards, the entry to the perimeter, and eventually the driveway to their hotel. Andrew has booked the most expensive one, which turned out to be the Animal Kingdom Lodge with its african vibe. 

As they drive into the parking garage, Neil finally speaks again. “You know, for a hot minute, I thought you were gonna propose to me via letter.”   
Andrew snorts and just shakes his head. “Idiot.” 

Later, when Neil stands on their balcony and looks outside with a dreamy expression on his face as he takes in the view, Andrew’s chest heats up with pride.   
Neil spins around to look at him, and there’s this huge smile on his face that’s been lighting up Andrew’s life for years now. “You’re the best boyfriend ever, Andrew Minyard, even though you don’t wanna hear that.”, he tell Andrew softly, who just shrugs but can’t help the tiny grin on his face when Neil climbs into his lap.

“Tell me that again after you’ve puked your guts out from riding one too many roller coasters.”


	17. A mousy Surprise (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 <3

When they leave their hotel the next morning, Neil is buzzing with excitement next to Andrew.

Andrew has picked out the time of their vacation to Disney World so it is on weekdays and not in school holiday time. It’s still full, of course, but it’s just alright. They can still breathe, and noone has recognised them (yet). Andrew is wearing a black long sleeved shirt and black jeans, matching sunglasses, and a thick layer of sunscreen Neil has forced upon him. It’s October, but it’s still rather warm in Florida.

Neil’s dressed in a long sleeved shirt as well, the one Andrew likes because the sleeves are a different color than the front part of the shirt, and it really brings out Neil’s shoulders. He’s had it since college (Allison bought it for him- Andrew should have really thanked her then) and it’s getting snug around his biceps, shoulders and chest. In combination with the tight shorts Neil is wearing, Andrew feels a little rewarded for planning this trip. 

Neil tugs on his hand, pulling him into the park. He doesn’t say anything, but Andrew sees the way his eyes light up when he looks around, taking in the sights. 

“Woah, Andrew, look!” “Oh my god, Andrew!” “Andrew have you seen this?”

Neil leads the way and Andrew follows him in his usual unbothered, calm manner (quite like in their normal life as well), takes photos whenever Neil asks him to, eats all the candy and desserts he can get his hands on, and generally watches Neil have the time of his life. Neil even manages to coax him into a selfie (which actually turns out quite nice with Neil smiling broadly and Andrew looking a bit red in the face from the sun). 

Neil doesn’t mind that he has to go on some of the rides alone. Andrew always waits for him at the exits and smoothes down his ruffled hair. While Neil is on Expedition Everest, Andrew sits down on a bench in the shade, scrolling through the photos. His thumb hovers over the Instagram logo. Neil and Andrew aren’t official, not really. People are suspecting, because they always are, but neither of them thinks their personal life is important to the success of their carreers. Kevin would say otherwise- but he’s not here, and also, when has Kevin ever been right.

Andrew posts a picture of Neil posing with an actor in a Buzz Lightyear costume, not titling it. It stands out against the other ones on his Instagram, most of them black and white and of inanimate objects. The press is gonna have a field day with this, but he doesn’t care. Neil looks happy in the picture. 

“Andrew!” A mop of auburn hair is all Andrew sees flying towards him. Reflexively, he opens his arms and Neil jumps into the hug, clearly delighted. “That was so much fun! We have to go with the others some time!” He talks about the ride, how it made his stomach feel upside down, and how the dad in the row in front of him almost puked on his child. 

Andrew listens.

When they’re back at the hotel, Neil falls asleep before he even gets into the shower. Andrew lets him, showers first, and then wakes him up by letting himself fall on the bed next to him in time so they won’t be late for dinner. Neils blinks at him sleepily and Andrew’s heart just clenches. 

“Go shower, you stink.”, he tells him, nudging his hips. Neil yawns and rolls over so he’s pressed against Andrew from his shoulder to his ankles, and looks up at him with a little smile. He looks like King stretching out on his back. 

“Yes or no?”, he asks, eyebrows cocked. When Andrew tells him yes, he rolls over again so he’s on his belly- and on Andrew, their chests together, Neil’s thighs straddling Andrew’s hips. He leans forward and kisses him, and Andrew’s hands shoot forward to Neil’s hips. 

“I wanna say thank you…”, Neil purrs. Andrew rolls his eyes and runs one hand up to tug at Neil’s hair. “There’s nothing to thank me for.” 

Neil smirks down at him and cocks his head. “…well, in that case I just wanna do naughty things with you for no particular reason.” 

Andrew huffs and pulls Neil into another kiss. 

They make out and grind against each other and right when Andrew is about to ask permission to remove Neil’s underwear-

Neil’s belly growls so loudly that it sounds like thunder.

Neil looks surprised and pulls back from the kiss, eyes wide and incredulous, and clutches his hands to his stomach. “…oops. Sorry.”

Andrew just lifts his eyebrows, a little grin tugging on his usually so serious lips. “I think we better eat before we continue this.” 

Neil sighs, but his belly rumbles again and he nods reluctantly. “Ugh. You’re probably right.” He steals another kiss and climbs off Andrew. “…I’ll take a cold shower now.”, he grumbles and goes to the bathroom. He leaves the door open while he undresses and showers, and Andrew pointedly ignores it (maybe he’s peeking out of the corner of his eyes. But just for a second.). 

Their first day ends with a great dinner, and even greater fuck and a photo gone viral.


	18. Bullshit. (Andrew and Neil get instagram)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what a cute prompt! :) enjoy! and thank you for all the support in the comments and on tumblr. y'all are so cute!

“This is bullshit.”

Andrew scrunche up his nose as he is glaring down at his phone. 

Neil watches over his shoulder as he tries to install and understand instagram, interested and a little bewildered. “Can you do mine too when you’re done?”

“Fuck no, do your own.”, Andrew replies grumpily. “This is bullshit.”, he repeats and tosses his phone halfway over the kitchen table when he is done. “Unnecessary.”

“Think of the money.”, Neil lightly replies and picked Andrew’s phone up before it falls off the edge of the table. “…and this is better than facebook. All you do is post a picture of your racket or your lunch or the cats once a week.” Neil isn’t a huge fan of this either, but their management insisted, and he is trying to help Andrew here.

Andrew, instead of replying, grumbles into his marshmellow fluff and strawberry topped toast.

-

Andrew hates it, he really does. He never stops telling Neil, either. “I fucking hate this.”, he says after snapping a picture of their morning protein smoothies. He titles it “I’d rather have chocolate milk” and puts exactly one hashtag: #bullshit. The post blows up within minutes, and people are starting to ask for the recipe (”It’s literally all the leftover fruit we had in the fridge, Neil. Why are people so fucking stupid. It’s not like there’s Kevin’s piss in there or something. Instagram’s bullshit.”).

Neil just nods and let him ramble. 

It goes on like that for a little while. Neil slowly gets better at instagram, posting cat pictures, candid photos of friends and teammates, sometimes his food or even occasional selfies. 

They stop talking about instagram after a while. Until one day, Neil is stuck in traffic for literally three hours and bored out of his mind. He doesn’t feel social, so he can’t call anyone, he has no food with him, so eating isn’t an option to kill time. So he decides to check instagram for once, really check it, not just look at his follower count or reply to a comment because his management tells him to.

The only people Neil is subscribed to are exy players. The foxes, his new team and acquintances (like Jeremy Knox). 

He scrolls, looking at the pictures and occasionally liking one. 

Allison posts a photo of her on Hawaii, drink in hand.

Matt has posted one of Dan, her baby belly wide and covered by a shirt that says “Exy Baby”. Neil likes that one.

He scrolls on, and then almost has a heart attack: a picture of him, taken from behind, as the sun falls through the window of their team bus, making his hair shine copper. It’s from Andrew’s account and it’s titled with “Gingers have no soul”. 

Neil is speechless for a moment, and then clicks on Andrew’s page so he can see all of his photos. 

None of the pictures show his face, but it’s clear that each one, apart from maybe four or five, are showing him.

Neil on the couch, asleep, King curled into a ball on his chest (”Wake the fuck up, sleeping beauty.” #yousnore)

Neil on their balcony, leaning backwards over the railing, staring into the evening sky (#sap).

Neil, again from behind, in the kitchen, cats sitting at his feet and waiting for tuna (#beggarscan’tbechoosers #spoiled).

Neil, wrapped in blankets like a burrito, only a mop of auburn hair peeking out (#hopeyousuffocate).

The comments on the last one are wild and extensive. People are going crazy over the fact that they apparently share a bed. Exy is low-key known for being the “big gay sport”, but still people seem to be in awe that Andrew Minyard and Neil Josten are a couple. 

Neil grins down at his phone. “…bullshit.”, he mumbles to himself, and closes the app.


	19. Jean meeting Jeremy's parents, pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so, noorasdandekar requested a sequel :) here you go darling. Also, this is gonna get a part 3 and maybe even 4. Dammit :D I love them too damn much. Maybe I'll give them their own story...

“You know, Ma and Da ship you and Jean.” Eliza lets her head dangle backwards over the backrest of the couch. Jeremy, who is leaning in the doorframe, watching TV over her shoulder with a can of soda in his hands, says nothing for a moment. 

“…what?”

“They think you and tall-dark-and-handsome would be nice together. I think so too, by the way.” Eliza watches her brother’s expression go through several emotions at once, before he opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again but doesn’t say anything.

“What are we talking about?” Their oldest brother, Dylan, shoves by Jeremy and flops down on one of the armchairs, looking between his siblings expectantly. 

 

“Nothing.”, Jeremy answers, and at the same time, Eliza replies: “Our brother’s new boyfriend.”

“Oh! Are you guys official already? Why did noone tell me?!”, Dylan gives his little brother a broad smile. “He seems real nice!”

Jeremy can feel his cheeks heat up as he shakes his head. “He’s not.. We’re not…!”

“But you liiiiike him!”, Eliza sing-songs, turning backwards on the couch now so she’s kneeling on it and grinning at Jeremy over the backrest, “you think he’s cuuuuute.”

“Stop!”, Jeremy hushes her, but he can feel a bashful smile tug at his lips. 

Eliza and Dylan exchange a triumphant little grin.

“You liiiiike him!”, Eliza continues and Jeremy laughs, flushing red and hiding his face in the neckline of his shirt. 

“Elly, stop!”, he whines and his siblings laugh. 

“You’re in luuuuurve with him! Sweet gay looooove.”, Dylan joins in and Jeremy glares at him over the hem of his neckline. 

“Dyl, I really thought you’d-”

“Who’s in love?”, Jean asks from behind Jeremy, coming down the stairs, and Jeremy has half a heart attack while his siblings start cackling like hyenas. 

“Jeremy!”, Eliza squeals as Jean peers over Jeremy’s shoulder with a curious and confused little smile.

“You’re in love? With whom?”, Jean asks and damnit, Jeremy has never felt more embarrassed. He shoots Eliza a death glare, and grapples for an explanation.

“…with Exy.” Oh my god.

“…you’re in…”, Jean quotes Dylan, “ ‘sweet gay love’ with Exy?” 

“Well, don’t they say it’s the new gay sport? I have to go, guys, sorry, I’m late for my morning run, or, uh, I think I heard Ma call, I better-…” Jeremy honest to god runs from the living room.

“…they do call it the new gay sport.”, Dylan agrees.

Jean is still looking very confused, staring at the spot next to him where Jeremy just vanished from. 

The conversation doesn’t let Jean go. Jeremy’s in love? Fine, good for him. Really. Good. Great. Awesome. He just hopes whoever the lucky person is treats Jeremy right, because otherwise, Jean might have to have a word with them. He’s sworn off violence (with Jeremy’s help) but he can still look intimidating. Yeah. 

Jeremy doesn’t meet his eyes for the whole day, and the day after. 

They’re at the beach when Jean finally finds the courage to ask Jeremy about it. They’re on their fancy little insulated beach blanket (courtesy of Mrs. Knox), both of them with their respective books (Jean keeps borrowing books from Jeremy, none of them are about sports and all of them are great) and Jean has to read one sentence over and over again before he gently closes it and turns to his side, propping his elbow up and leaning his head into his hand. 

Jeremy ignores him for about half a minute, before he glances over, a little smile spreading on his face while the hint of a blush spreads on his cheeks and oh. Oh. Ohhh damnit. 

“What? You’re staring.”

Jean grapples to find his voice quickly, and luckily, it cooperates. 

“You know, I’m still wondering who you’re in ‘sweet gay love’ with.” 

Jeremy laughs bashfully and lets his head drop into his book, hiding his face. “Please, let’s not talk about that. That was just my siblings being stupid.”

Jean is quiet for a moment. Jeremy obviously doesn’t want to tell, but he still has to make sure that person’s good for him (Jeremy has proven in the past that he’s not always the best to judge certain character flaws in his partners, always seeing the best in people and all).

“Is he nice at least?” He goes out there with the pronoun, but Jeremy confirms it with a little nod. 

He looks up from his book, cheeks fully flushed now, chewing on his bottom lip and a parade of colorful french swear words pop up in Jean’s head. ‘Dieu, pourquoi je ne prenais jamais conscience de ça?’

”He is.”, Jeremy says slowly, and averts his eyes to smile at his book. “He’s very nice. And handsome.” 

“Well.” Jean almost chokes on the word and forces a smile, “Good for you, then. Maybe I’ll meet him soon?”

Jeremy snorts, and Jean furrows his eyebrows. “…yeah. Maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...TO BE CONTINUED... 
> 
>  
> 
> :) <3 comment to make a writer happy?


	20. JJ highschool AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HS AU prompt with the sentence "No, it's fine, I can wait until you're done talking to them". Enjoy! :)

“Mister Moreau, could you please come up to the board and solve this equation for us instead of playing around on your phone?” 

Jean dropped his phone on the floor by accident when he startled, and felt his cheeks heat up and flush such a deep shade of red that he knew he looked like a tomato right now. “Uh, y-yes, M’am. Apologies.”

He quickly scrambled up and went to the front of the classroom, all eyes on him. Alvarez, who sat next to him in class, gave him a sorry but encouraging smile and thumbs up when he turned around, dragged his glance over the class before looking to their teacher Mrs Winfield. 

She had her arms crossed over her chest and it was clear that she hated this, hated having to punish him, but still thought it was important so he learned the rules. “Here.” She handed him the whiteboard marker and pointed at the equation on the board. 

Fuck. 

What a shitty monday morning. 

And all just because he had to re-read Jeremy’s texts from last night in class.

-

“If I make you solve another equation, will you put your fucking phone away?” Kevin sounded a little mad. They were at lunch, Kevin shovelling food into his Exy-sculpted body, Alvarez reading, and Jean still brooding over his phone. 

“Give that to me.” Alvarez put her book down and held out her hand. Jean clutched the phone to his chest. “No!”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, frenchie, or did he sext you?”

Jean’s cheeks were heating up again and he shook his head, quickly handing over the phone to prove her wrong. Kevin just rolled his eyes, but still peeked over Alvarez’s shoulder to read the text.

Alvarez’s eyes narrowed and her lips quietly formed the words. Then she cocked her head to the left, to the right and eventually handed the phone to Kevin. 

“You know, that does sound an awful lot like a… veiled sext.”

Jean, who had used their silence to eat some of his salad, choked on the leaves now. “No! What? Why?” 

A little smirk appeared on Kevin’s lips as he handed the phone back to Jean. “…’could you help me with french? Please?’”, he quoted, exaggerating the neediness in the tone ever so slightly. 

“That’s not- it’s not- no-”, Jean stuttered, thoroughly embarrassed by his incredible friends.

“Oooooh, please, Jean, please help me improve my french…!”, Alvarez teased, giving the words a needy edge and licking her lips in such an exaggerated motion that Kevin facepalmed while laughing. 

“You’re dumb and I hate you.”, Jean grumbled and tugged his shoulders up to hide his blush as best as he could. 

Alvarez and Kevin were still laughing, but suddenly, they tensed up and stopped. Jean needed a moment to catch on, because his face was still half-buried in the neckline of his sweater. “It’s really just about french… class! Nothing else! Just… french.”

“French?”, a voice behind Jean said and made him almost jump out of his skin which made Kevin and Alvarez laugh hard again, snorting into their respective lunches. “Hey, Jeremy.”, Kevin pressed out and Alvarez just waved while biting down hard on her lip.

Horrified, Jean turned around, only to spot Jeremy standing behind him, smiling down at him in his unique, gentle, friendly and open way. “Hey, Jean!”

“Oh-…hi.” A stupid grin spread on Jean’s lips, embarrassing and cheesy. “Uh… do you… we were just talking… do you wanna… uh, what about french? Should we…?” Nope, a whole sentence wasn’t happening right now. Damn.

“No, it’s fine, I can wait until you’re done talking to your friends!”, Jeremy smiled, seeming unphased (even though a knowing little twinkle in his eyes). 

“No, no! They’re stupid anyway.” Jean gave his friends a pointed look and turned back around to Jeremy. “…we… we can… we can just go to the library.” 

Jeremy nodded happily. As Jean stood up, he had to tilt his head up just a little to keep looking at Jean, and it made Jean’s heart flutter a little. “Thank you so much, Jean. I’m just so bad at french.” Jeremy laughed apologetically. 

Kevin and Alvarez burst out into laughter again, and Jean glared back over his shoulder at them and flipped them off. 

“Your friends seem really nice and funny.”, Jeremy mused as they were walking to the library. 

Jean just grunted non-committantly.


	21. Kevin Day's friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: Kevin/friendship :) enjoy

Contrary to popular belief, Kevin Day is, in fact, not a heartless, ego-centric asshole. He might act like one from time to time, but he’s really not. 

Kevin on the court isn’t the same as Kevin in front of a camera, neither Kevin drunk or high. But not many people can see beyond those aspects of Kevin’s personality.

Thea can. Jean can. Andrew, Neil, Renee. Well, Wymack, too. 

Kevin’s friendship isn’t like most people’s. 

It’s not “I missed you”s or “glad to see you”s. 

It’s not hugs or fistbumps.

It’s not stupid selfies in the group chat. 

It’s not admitting secrets to each other or talking about things noone else is supposed to know about.

It’s not that. But it’s a lot of other things, gestures only people who know Kevin truly, understand.

It’s “give your game to me”. 

It’s trying to give Andrew something to fight for. 

It’s getting drunk with Neil and Jean on the anniversary of Riko’s death and collecting reasons why Riko deserved to die.

It’s a pat on the shoulder, “Good game”.

It’s carrying Renee off the field when she hurts her ankle in the middle of a game. 

It’s secretly making Neil’s and Andrew’s cats his lock screen.

It’s making an appointment for therapy when Thea finds out she’s pregnant, because Kevin wants to raise his child so differently that from how he has been raised. 

 

Kevin Day’s friendship isn’t like most people’s. But that’s okay.


	22. Alles an dir ist schön (Erik/Nicky: hurt/comfort)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeey I'm back :) yay. I graduated! Thank you to everyone who supported me, and for all your lovely comments.  
> This prompt contains metions of self harm, so be warned, please! <3  
> prompt was: Nicky has self harm scars on his upper thighs, Erik+Nicky first time, Nicky warns Erik about the scars.

They make out on the bed, and Nicky knows it’s gonna happen soon. They’ve done everything that’s possible with their boxers on by now, and Nicky knows Erik wants to move on, even if he doesn’t say so and doesn’t pressure Nicky, of course, because Erik is just the most decent person on earth and the best boyfriend, too. 

Nicky, too, wants to go further. He wants Erik on top of him, without the bit of fabric between them.

But he’s afraid. The scars are ugly ropes all around his upper thighs. They’re there because his arms were never an option. Even when he goes swimming or undresses in front of others, they are still covered. 

But Nicky wants Erik to see him completely uncovered.

Erik and Nicky lie side by side, arms and legs tangled, kissing slowly. Erik is naked already, and oh, he’s glorious. Nicky wants to spend the rest of his life staring at Erik. His shoulders are hard lines, his arms are stong and feel like Nicky could hold on to them forever, and his lips are just the perfect amount of soft. 

Erik’s hands squeeze Nicky’s butt, and Nicky doesn’t hold back the little moan which makes its way out of his throat. Erik pulls back, smirks, and does it again. 

Nicky buries his face against Erik’s chest and huffs. He wants this, he wants Erik so badly, but what if Erik sees the scars and…? 

“Alles okay?”, asks Erik gently, and his hand wanders up Nicky’s back and into his hair instead, massaging lightly. 

Nicky huffs quietly. 

“Do you want to stop?”, Erik asks, again so, so gently. 

“Nein…”, Nicky replies softly, a little whine making its way into his voice. They do this, they skip between languages. 

“Was dann?” Erik gently cups Nicky’s jaw and makes him look up at him. Nicky swallows. 

“I… I wanna have sex with you.”

Erik halts, and blushes, and god damnit, he’s so fucking beautiful. Nicky bites his lower lip. 

“Oh.” A grin starts to spread on Erik’s face, “…okay.”

Nicky squirms under Erik’s hands, and when Erik wants to lean in and kiss him again, Nicky firmly plants his palms on Erik’s chest. 

“Wait.” 

Erik, of course, does immediately, looking at Nicky expectantly.

Nicky breathes in deeply, and looks at Erik from out under his lashes, trying to find a way to word this. 

In the end, he just blurts it out. 

“I have scars. On my thighs. Under… under my boxers.”

He feels his cheeks flush and his eyes sting, because he’s never told anyone about this, and now Erik knows. 

Erik is quiet for a moment, and then he cups Nicky’s face, thumb caressing his cheekbone. 

Nicky feels his nerves become jittery, fear that Erik will think the scars are ugly or will think of him as weak for self harming, and he squirms again, averting his eyes. 

“They’re just really… ugly as fuck.” He laughs nervously, “…and I wanted you to be prepared.”

“Nothing about you is ugly.” Erik leans in, and presses a soft kiss to Nicky’s lips and so much tension seeps out from Nicky’s shoulders. 

Erik rolls them over, and Nicky’s leg spread so easily for him. 

“You’re beautiful…”, Erik whispers against his chest, and Nicky feels like he’s gonna melt into the sheets any second now. 

“Erik…”, he whispers, and then moans it again when Erik drags his tongue down Nicky’s stomach. 

When Erik’s fingers hook into the waistband of his boxers, and pull them down Nicky’s hips, Nicky bites his lip. He tenses a little when Erik’s eyes wander over his body.

The scars are white and thick against his brown skin, and clearly visible, but when Nicky looks into Erik’s face, he can’t see a trace of disgust on it. Instead, his eyes are full of … of adoration, the way they are whenever Erik looks at him right before he tells him he loves him. 

Erik leans down, and settles between Nicky’s thighs. Nicky reaches out to bury his hands in Erik’s short, blond hair, and tries to sort out the wild mixture of emotions in his chest. 

“Alles an dir ist schön…”, Erik whispers, and, after looking up at Nicky one last time with his blue eyes, plants the most gentle kiss on Nicky’s left, inner thigh, where the scars are worst. 

Nicky watches, and it feels like Erik is burning into his heart in the best possible way. Soon enough, he burns into the rest of his body, too, and Nicky gasps his name while Erik tells him again and again how beautiful he is.


	23. Andreil anniversary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooo, fluff! with a tiny side of smut. there might appear a longer version with more smut in my nsfw prompt fills, possibly, maybe, eventually. :) enjoy!

“Here.” Andrew thrusts a bag into Neil’s hand.

Neil looks at the bag, then back up at Andrew, who’s still giving him one of his signature looks, stern and a little bored on the surface, expectant, and, if Neil would have to take an educated guess, even a little excited. 

“What is it?”, he asks, and slowly opens the bag.

“You’ve been blessed with two working eyes, Josten, see for yourself.”, Andrew grunts, and crosses his arms over his chest. 

A fond little smile tugs at Neil’s lips, and he pulls out the contents of the bag, which turn out to be a light blue button up shirt, very nice dark jeans and a matching belt. 

Neil is used to Andrew buying him clothes occasionally, but never anything like this. Usually, the clothes Andrew gets him are black and, on more than one occasion, for Andrew’s eyes alone. But this? Neil furrows his eyebrows. “What-?”

“Put it on. We’re going out.”, Andrew simply orders him, and then saunters off to the living room to give Neil some space to change. Neil does as told. When he looks at himself in the mirror after chaging, he swallows hard. 

The shirt compliments his eyes really well, and those jeans look... sharp. He turns around and looks at his backside, which is nicely hugged by the navy denim. Andrew’s gonna like this very much. Neil shoots a small grin at himself in the mirror. 

The same moment he steps out of their bedroom, Andrew steps out of the shared bathroom. He, too, has changed, and Neil really, just, really really wants to run his hands all over Andrew right now. 

He’s wearing black jeans, a very soft-looking black t-shirt, and over it, a casual black suit jacket. Allison would definitely approve of this outfit, and so does Neil. Very much so. 

“Stop staring.”, Andrew tells him, his own hazel eyes darting over Neil in the new outfit, and grabs his car keys. Oh, how deliciously the fabric of his jacket strains over his biceps when he moves. “We gotta get going.”

“Where to?”, Neil asks, and takes some quick steps until he’s next to Andrew. He can’t keep his eyes off Andrew’s broad shoulders. Dammit. 

“We’ve got reservations.”, Andrew ominously replies, “But if you don’t get going, they’ll cancel.” 

He opens the door for Neil and pretty much ushers him out. Neil obeys, but, after asking ‘yes or no?’, takes Andrew’s hand on the way to the elevator of the building. 

-

The elevator ride is testing Neil’s patience and impulse control. He wants Andrew to push him against the closed doors and do very filthy things to him. But apparently, they’re in a hurry. 

-

Andrew parks the Maserati in front of a restaurant Neil has never been to. It looks a little fancy, and it’s by a lake and has a patio. He can’t help but ask “Here?!”, but Andrew just gives him his Andrew Minyard death stare, and Neil grins. “...sorry. It just looks really fancy.” 

“Stop talking and get out of my car.”, Andrew reaches over and pushes him a little, but not very hard. 

Inside, the restaurant is just as fancy. It smells amazing, and, since it’s a tuesday night, it isn’t very crowded. They’re being seated after Andrew very confidently tells the waitress a fake name. 

Andrew orders drinks for them, water, and a small bottle of wine Neil has never heard of (they usually just buy the cheapest wine they can get; they’re college students, after all), but this one sounds kind of expensive. 

“...so, what’s this about?”, Neil finally asks when the waitress has buzzed off with a huge smile. 

Andrew looks at him and cocks his head just a little. “It’s been a year.” 

Neil stares at him while the words process. Then, they click in place. “A year?!” But yes, Andrew’s right. It’s been a whole fucking year since they... well, since Andrew kissed him on the roof. A year since... everything else that happened. It all feels weird, distant, and yet, not. 

“Are you gonna have an existantial crisis?”, Andrew asks dryly, “...because if yes... please wait until I’ve finished the wine we’re getting.” 

Neil can’t help the snort of laughter. “Since when are you such a wine conoisseur?” 

“I have many talents.”, Andrew replies ominously, again, and it makes Neil laugh. 

“You googled it, didn’t you?”

Andrew just grunts and gestures non-commitantly. 

Neil looks at him, really looks at him, trying to see him completely, not only how his amber eyes shine in the low light of the restaurant, making them seem almost golden, and not only the way his jacket hugs his frame perfectly. 

Andrew is his rock, his anchor and armor and his home. He makes Neil feel grounded, and happy, too. 

“You’re smiling like an idiot.”, Andrew comments, but Neil doesn’t miss the softness in his tone. 

-

The wine is amazing, and so is the food.

Kevin would get a heart attack and rant about all the bad fats and carbs on their plates. Andrew makes sure to snap a picture and send it to him. 

When they’re done eating, Neil feels like his fancy new shirt might explode. 

“That was amazing.”, he sighs, completely satisfied. Andrew nods in reply. 

They pay, or rather, Andrew pays. Neil tries to pay, too, but Andrew shoots him a look and casually asks him if he wants him to break his wrist when Neil reaches for the bill. 

When they’re back out by the car, Neil reaches out for Andrew’s hand. “Yes or no?”, he asks softly. 

“Yes.”, Andrew replies, and pulls Neil with him, against the side of the Maserati. 

They kiss, and Andrew crowds Neil in. Even though he’s in a food-fuelled haze, Neil’s body very much still reacts to Andrew. After all, Andrew’s still wearing this fucking jacket. Andrew pushes him against the passenger door, and Neil’s breath hitches. 

“Get in.”, Andrew growls into his ear, and then bites his ear lobe. He reaches over Neil, and opens the car door. 

-

The elevator ride back up is just as straining, however, this time, it’s because Andrew makes him bend over with his palms against the doors, and rubs his ass with firm hands and fuck, Neil wants Andrew so badly when they reach their floor. 

“You look so fucking good in those jeans, Josten. Should be a crime.”, he growls and shivers run down Neil’s spine. Fuck, he needs to keep that in mind. Andrew loves skinny jeans on Neil, noted. 

Andrew steers him into their dorm room quickly and with a burning hand on his lower back. Their rooms are empty, and Neil gets a feeling that Kevin has been politely or impolitely forced to find shelter elsewhere for the night. 

He quickly stops thinking about Kevin when Andrew pushes him against the closed door and kisses him again after a whispered ‘yes or no?’, hot lips on his, and hands wandering down his body. 

Neil’s hands are on Andrew’s shoulders, steadying himself, thumbs digging into the hard, bulging muscles. Andrew could rip the fabric if he’d just flex hard enough, and maybe Neil should be weirded out by how much this idea turns him on, but he’s long beyond caring. 

When Andrew bites the side of his neck and then sucks a mark into the skin, every coherent thought vanishes and is replaced with hazy, needy want in his brain. 

-

Later, between gasps and moans and thrusts and swollen lips pressed to sweaty skin, Neil pants out, “Happy anniversary, Andrew.” 

Andrew can’t reply since his mouth is busy, but the vibrations his reply produces are just as good. If not better.


	24. Andrew has a panic attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloo.... I am back. I moved cities, started a new job and have generally been very adult lately. But it all went well so far, and so here is another chapter. One more will follow today.   
> Come talk to me on tumblr! marmelade-sky.tumblr.com ♥ 
> 
> attention, this chapter contains: panic attacks, blood, wounds.

Bee says it’s a panic attack. 

Neil wouldn’t have thought of that, because his own panic attacks are so different to Andrew’s. Neil closes up, his chest gets all tight when it happens, until he can’t breathe anymore and his heart beats into his throat and the blood rushes through his ears. He used to run when it happened, until Andrew caught him and didn’t let go anymore. Now he just turns into a ball and stops moving until it’s over. 

Andrew, however, does none of these things. When it’s fight or flight, Andrew Minyard always fights, of course, because that’s how things are for him, have always been. 

So now Andrew sits between shards of glass and ceramic which used to be their kitchen supplies and Neil sits two feet away from him. There is a shard digging into his thigh, through his jeans, but he ignores it. Andrew’s hands are bleeding, his eyes are unfocused, like a deer’s which runs from the headlights. His breath is slowing down, at least. Neil doesn’t say anything, he’s just there, sitting with his legs crossed. 

Minutes pass and turn into an hour, and Andrew’s breath slows, his facce becomes less pale, his eyes start to focus again and eventually, he wipes his bloody hands on his sweatpants. 

“Fuck.”, is the first thing that comes out of his mouth and when he looks at Neil, properly looks at him, Neil can see the conceiled pain in his eyes. 

“Can I come closer? Yes or no?”, he asks quietly. 

Andrew breathes, once, twice, then nods. “…yes.”

Neil slowly shuffles closer to Andrew, across the floor, until he sits opposite of him, their knees not quite touching. 

“There was something on the tv.”, Andrew provides an explanation, quiet, slowly, tired and drained. It’s enough explanation for Neil. He understands. 

Andrew’s eyes wander over Neil. “Yes or no?”

“Yes.”, Neil replies and holds still.

Andrew reaches out and touches Neil, first his cheek, where he digs the pad of his thumb into Neil’s scarred cheek, then his neck, hand sliding down over the skin until it meets the neckline of his shirt; Neil’s shoulder, where Andrew’s fingertips dig in. When they reach Neil’s thigh, Andrew halts.

“You’re bleeding.”

The shard which dug through Neil’s jeans has sliced his skin open, not badly, but enough that a little bit of blood trickles through the denim. 

“So are you.”, Neil says. His own hand hovers over Andrew’s. 

Andrew looks at his hands and simply says “Oh.” Then he slowly looks up at Neil again. “…I can’t bandage that myself.” 

Neil understand the unasked question. “…come on, then.”

They go to the bathroom. Neil’s legs tingle from sitting on the floor for so long, and they’re both dripping red all over the hardwood floor of their appartment. 

Andrew sits down on the edge of the tub, and Neil finds bandages, sanitizer and band-aids. 

He works in silence, Andrew holds his hands out for him without flinching once. The cuts aren’t deep, but Neil is sure they hurt. He carefully digs out several little shards and drops them into the sink, where the blood washes down the drain. 

“Done.” Neil’s voice sounds louder than it is in the confined, white tiled space of their bathroom. He makes a move to step back, but Andrew says “Don’t.” and so Neil freezes in his movement. 

“…come back.” 

Neil steps forward again, until he is right in front of Andrew. He holds up his hands, careful not to touch Andrew on accident.

Andrew looks up at him for a moment, jaw hard, eyes hard, and then he leans in, until his head is pressed against Neil’s abs. 

“You can touch my hair.” His voice is muffled by Neil’s shirt. 

Neil needs a second to process this, but then he reaches out and, very gently, runs one hand through Andrew’s hair. It’s thick on top, and cut short on the sides, where the buzz cut tickles Neil’s palms.

Andrew lets out the smallest little sigh, and Neil can feel tension seeping out of him. Slowly… but surely. 

Andrew’s breath is warm through Neil’s shirt, his hair is soft, and Neil pets it until his hand feels a little numb. 

-

Later, they clean the mess in the kitchen up together, and then order pizza and watch reruns of Brooklyn99.


	25. Reasons why Riko Moriyama deserved to die.

It’s been a year, and they are drawn together like some kind of gravity is working its power on them. Some sick force, pulling them together by their bad memories, their trauma, their common denominator. 

Riko Moriyama.

He’s been under the earth for a whole year now, dead and probably rotting away in his grave. They have to remember it from time to time, that he’s gone.

Kevin, when his hand hurts when the weather changes, or when he looks at Wymack showing him thumbs up after a particularly good game and he feels like he’s dreaming.

Jean, when he traces the lines on his body, so many scars, all of them inflicted by Riko. The scars in his soul aren’t traceable, but he knows they’re there, too, when Jeremy hugs him and Jean tenses up for just a second before relaxing and remembering he is allowed to hug back, he is allowed to bury his nose in Jeremy’s hair and enjoy this for himself. 

Neil has to remember it when he looks at Andrew sometimes, and when he looks in the mirror and sees the marred skin of his cheek where the “4″ had been. 

It’s Renee who asks Jean to spend the weekend with them. Jean reluctantly agrees. Jeremy doesn’t try to talk him out of it at all, even though Jean had half expected him. Jean and Kevin haven’t talked since the day Jean left to join the Trojans. 

-

He’s nervous when he arrives at the airport. But Renee is there with her colorful hair and her sweet smile. And it’s alright.

“Kevin.”

“Jean.” 

They stand in the doorway awkwardly, facing each other. Kevin still looks the same. But at the same time, he doesn’t. His hair is growing longer. Back at the nest, this haircut would have been unacceptable. 

“You… had it covered up.”, Kevin says relucantly, pointing to his own cheek where the queen chess piece covers his number 2. Jean touches his own fingertips to his own tattoo. 

“Yeah.” 

Kevin avoids his gaze. “…good for you. I-… uh, I heard you’re getting on well with… with the Trojans, and… it’s… is it… are you…?” He looks up, and Jean wants to slap him suddenly. 

“No.”, he simply replies, answering Kevin’s unasked question. “…I’m not alright. But I’m better.” 

Kevin chews on his bottom lip and nods curtly. “…good.”, he eventually says. “Good.” 

-

Jean likes Neil, for some reason. He has more of a spine than Kevin, and he doesn’t ask Jean any nonsensical questions. 

Jean isn’t quite sure why Neil is dating Minyard now, but he seems happy with him. Jean sees him smile across the table at Andrew when they’re out for pizza in the evening. 

The Foxes seem to have grown closer. Everyone is invited for the dinner, and Jean notices that they seem… friendlier together. Maybe that’s why they’re a better team now. Not maybe, definitely. 

Jean texts Jeremy under the table. Renee sees and just smiles, patting his thigh. 

-

They get drunk. Of course they do. 

Kevin is still an alcoholic, Jean knows that much. Some bad habits don’t die. And tonight, on the anniversary of Riko’s death, Jean, too, needs a drink. Or several. 

They end up on the court. Jean doesn’t really remember how. The ceiling spins above him as he stretches out on the polished wooden floor. He distantly remembers Minyard driving them here. But now they’re alone, Neil, Kevin and him. Why? Whose idea was that…? Jean can’t remember.

“He’s… he’s fucking dead…”, Kevin eventually says into the big silence of the court. 

“He deserved it.”, Neil adds, and there is no regret in his voice. He spits the words out with the honesty Jean admires about him. 

A strangled noise escapes Kevin. “Don’t…don’t say that.” 

Neil, who has been lying on his back as well, sits up and points at Kevin. “He fucking did deserve it. He broke your hand. He cut me up into pieces. He treated Jean like a dog.”

Jean doesn’t flinch. But something in his chest stirs. “…he was a bad person.” The words come out lazily and slowly. 

Neil grunts in agreement. 

They fall silent again.

After several minutes, right when Jean’s eyes threaten to fall close, Kevin speaks again. His voice is quiet, timid, almost. “…do you remember when he broke my nose?”, he asks, and it’s clear that it’s directed at Jean. 

Jean does remember. It was one of the rare occasions Riko had actually taken out his rage on Kevin instead of Jean. 

“…he slammed the butt of his racket into your face.”, Jean drawls with a low sigh. “…later that night, he let Jake fuck me.” Jean has never talked about that with Kevin. He is sure Kevin knew though, back then. 

There was another silence, until Neil says, “…we should make a list.” 

“What list?” Jean slowly rolls to his side. His stomach grumbles unhappily, filled with liquor. 

“Reasons why Riko deserved to die- stop choking, Kevin.” 

Kevin is coughing now, red in the face, pressing a hand to his sternum. When he speaks, his voice is an octave higher than usual. “Reasons…?” He is clearly scandalized. Old habits die hard. 

“Yes, let’s.”, Jean agrees after a moment. “Reason one, he fucked up Kevin Day.” 

Kevin glares at Jean. Jean doesn’t know how Kevin isn’t going cross eyed. He has half a bottle of vodka in his system, after all. 

“Reason two, the stupid fucking tattoos.”, Neil adds, and to his own surprise, Jean laughs. 

“Fuck yeah.” 

“Reason three.” Jean and Neil go quiet when Kevin speaks. “…he… he told me I was nothing without him, and he broke my hand.” 

“Reason four.”, Neil adds, “…he was an egocentric, manic and manipulative asshole.” 

Jean nodds strongly. “…yes.” 

Another silence settls over them. 

“…he forbade me to speak french. …that’s reason five.”, Jean adds after a moment. 

“You did, anyway.” Kevin is smiling down at his own hands when Jean looks over to him. 

“Yes.” 

“Reason six: he was bad with knives.” Neil runs a thumb over a scar right above his elbow. 

As Jean tries to think of another reason, something ridiculous comes to his mind, and he has to laugh again. It feels weird to laugh, especially about Riko, about this, but laughing makes the tight feeling in his chest losen up.   
“Reason seven should be the way he pronounced ‘court’. It always sounded like… card.” It’s lame, a lame reason, but he’s still laughing, and now, Neil is too. 

“It did. Caaaahrt.” 

Jean snorts because he is laughing so hard. “Fuck, yes.” 

Kevin isn’t laughing, but smiling. 

Neil’s and Jean’s laughter dies down after some time, and silence settles over the Foxhole court again. 

“…he’s really dead.”, Kevin says into it after several minutes. “He’s dead. Riko is dead.” 

Jean thinks Kevin sounds like he’s tasting every syllable of the sentence in his mouth.


	26. A video of Kevin's parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends :) enjoy!

_Can you come to my flat? I have something I want to show you._

When Kevin receives that text from Wymack, he’s sure this is about Exy. What else? Sure, they have slowly been bonding over the past few months, and Kevin finds he is starting to truly accept that Wymack is his real biological dad, and that there is still someone close to him who shares his genes, some of his habits, his haircolor and his smile. 

It’s even gone so far that there had been a moment when Kevin had looked at Wymack, and thought ‘This is what I’m going to look like when I’m 40′.

Still, most of their relationship is centered around Exy, and that’s okay.

So when he arrives at Wymack’s flat which looks like a miniature tornado hit it, he’s a bit confused. 

“Uh… what are you doing?”

Wymack looks up at Kevin, with his eyebrows furrowed, but his expression eases when he sees him. “I’m decluttering my apartment.”, he simply replies, then gestures for Kevin to come in. “Come, I found something I want to show you.”

Kevin, now even more confused, does as told. Wymack gestures for him to sit on the couch. He grabs a VHS tape, which has been lying readily by the TV, and puts it into the player. 

“Who even still has a VHS player?”, Kevin asks as Wymack fiddles with the remote.

“Yeah, I know, I’m an ancient dinosaur. Shut up now, and watch.”

There’s fizzing, and then the VHS starts playing. 

A court, or rather, the wooden floor of it. 

A man’s voice asks, “…is this working?”

A woman somewhere around the man laughs, a sweet sound, and it makes Kevin’s spine tingle. 

“You need to point it at me, David! Not the floor.”

“Oooh.” A younger David Wymack (Kevin now recognizes the voice) points the camera up, and Kayleigh Day comes into view. It knocks the air right out of Kevin’s lungs.

She’s wearing jeans shorts, white trainers and a black t-shirt, and is holding a racket. She’s lean and beautiful. 

“Ready?”, Wymack’s voice asks, and Kayleigh nods with a laugh, her hair flying around her face. 

“I’ve been ready for the past few minutes!” Her voice isn’t soft and sweet, it’s rough, and firm for a woman, the way that would allow her to yell loud enough to be heard across the Court. 

“Go on, then.”

Kayleigh adjusts her position, standing straighter, and looks directly into the camera. “Hello, I’m Kayleigh Day, one of the inventors of Exy, and this is- stop laughing, David!” 

The camera has started to shake, blurring the picture just slightly. Kayleigh puts her hands on her hips, and glares at a laughing, off-camera Wymack, but there is a smile tugging on her lips still, obvious that she’s not really angry with him. 

Kevin can see that there is something between them, something that would later result in him, and he’s not sure how he feels about that. Not bad, though. 

“Sorry, Kay!”, Wymack’s voice says, “Let’s try again.” 

They do try again, but it works about as well as the first time. 

Wymack sits on the couch next to Kevin, and a soft, nostalgic smile softens his features when, on screen, Kayleigh walks towards the camera and his past self, determined but grinning, and rips it out of his hands. 

“Let me do that.” She turns it so both of them are in the frame. Wymack has a ridiculous moustache, and Kevin can’t help a little snort. 

“Shut up, that was in style at the time.”, present day Wymack grumbles next to him with a grin. 

“Do you want to do this? Do you want to do the intro?!”, Kayleigh asks playfully and loops her arm around Wymack’s neck. The frame consists of unfocused shots of their faces, shaky as Wymack loops his own arm around Kayleigh’s middle and the video becomes laughter, playful jabs and jokes and a kiss that’s only half in frame before the video cuts out. 

The screen is black. Kevin stares at it for another minute, until Wymack breaks the silence. “…she dropped the camera.”

He gets up and takes the tape out of the VHS player. “…thought you maybe wanted to see it.” His voice is a little sheepish.

“I-…It was nice. Thank you.”, Kevin grinds out after another moment of silence. Wymack goes over to his liquor cabinet, takes out two tumblers and a bottle of whiskey. He places them in front of Kevin, and pours the alcohol. 

“…to your mother.”, he toasts. Kevin lifts his own drink. “…to… to Mom.”

Their glasses clink, and the whiskey burns comfortably down Kevin’s throat.


	27. Flowery Andreil Fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbeta'd.

The whole thing is ridiculous, really, and Andrew can’t believe his life has come to this. 

It all starts with this stupid orange Lily or Daylily or maybe it’s a fucking daffodil or tulip for all Andrew cares. Neil brings it home one evening after a fan meeting, and Andrew watches, eating cereal straight out of the box, when Neil puts it into a beer glass (they don’t own vases) with this sappy smile that makes Andrew’s heart feel freakishly light in his chest. 

It gets worse when Neil turns to him and smiles at him now, still in that aloof, soft way. “Kid gave it to me at the fan meet.”, he prompts, his voice rough from the cold air outside still. “She said she read that my favourite color was still orange.” 

“Did I ask?”, Andrew drawls, because the way Neil’s cheeks are just the slightest bit flushed is just so unnerving.

“No”, replies Neil lightly, “but I told you anyway.”

-

The flower survives two whole days. Andrew shoos the cats away from it whenever he catches them so much as eyeing it. Because it would be such a nuisance to have to clean up all the shards. 

It survives two days, but then it’s fluffy orange head begins to sag, and the water starts looking murky. 

Neil looks at it critically, frowning for a long time before throwing it out and dumping the greenish water into the sink. 

After a quick question, Andrew rubs the frown from Neil’s lips and from between his eyebrows and then kisses him until the soft smile is back. 

-

“I just thought they looked nice. And smelled nice, too. Smell them! Have you smelled them?” 

“I’m allergic.”, Andrew deadpans. 

“No you’re not.”, Neil replies but pulls the pink and violet and aromatic lilac back towards himself. 

“I can smell it from over here, and that’s already enough.” Andrew resumes reading his book as Neil gets their vase. They own a vase, now. Well, Neil owns a vase. Andrew denies the ownership of said vase. 

Andrew watches over the edge of his book as Neil fills the vase with water, then puts the flowers in, fluffing them a little. 

“That’s Nicky-level gay, Neil.”, Andrew says not because he means it, but because he wants to tease Neil. 

Neil laughs as he puts the vase onto the highest kitchen cupboard where the cats are least likely to reach it. “Really? Is it gayer than the way you’ve been watching me the past few minutes?”

Andrew just glares. Neil winks and then turns back around to sniff at the lilac once more, standing on his tiptoes.

-

Andrew can’t fucking believe this. He can’t believe this is his life. 

The girl at the flower shop looks wholesome and sweet. She reminds him a little bit of Renee. Renee would probably be great at selling flowers. 

“Good morning, how can I help you?”, she asks cheerily. Andrew looks at her hands. They are reddened and chaved in places. Maybe handling flowers is hard business. 

“I need flowers.”, he replies, and he can see the slightest hint of a laugh tug at her lips. Maybe he’d find her cute or charming if he wasn’t so homosexual. 

“Well, you certainly came to the right place then. What’s the occasion?”

“Put them in a vase and look at them. Possibly smell them, too.” 

She is laughing now, and Andrew can tell she finds him charming. This entire idea is bad. Just bad. 

He goes through with it anyways. Because it’s for Neil.

“For your girlfriend?”, the clerk asks, “wife?”

“Boyfriend.” Andrew wants to says ‘Nuisance’, but he doesn’t. The clerk doesn’t bat an eye. 

“Alright. What colors does he like?”

Fifteen minutes later, Andrew leaves the shop with a scowl and an arm full of flowers. There’s orange ones, because it’s Neil’s favourite color, there’s blue ones, like Neil’s eyes and auburn ones like his hair, and they all tickle Andrew’s face as he carries them. His car will smell like them for a whole week, he just knows it. 

The way Neil’s eyes widen later, the way a little, disbelieving smile appears on his face, and the way he turns to Andrew (”yes or-” -”yes.”) and hugs him fiercly are worth it, though.


	28. Girl Power (renison)

“Isn’t she perfect? She’s so beautiful... Look at her.” 

Neil gives a non-committal grunt as a reply. Allison is leaning against the railing, chin in her hands as she watches Renee run laps with Andrew to warm up for goalie practice.

“Neil.” Allison reaches out and grasps Neil’s forearm. Her neon pink nails stand out against his black arm bands. “I think I love her.” Her voice is fierce, and she says it in such a sincere way that Neil has to look up from the strings of his racket. 

Allison’s eyes are burning as she repeats: “I love her.” 

Neil blinks once, then replies “Good for you. You’re... a good couple I guess.” 

Allison nods hard, her blond pony tail bobbing. “...yes, we are.” 

Then she waves at Renee as Andrew and Renee pass them. Renee waves back, face splitting into a huge, beaming smile. Andrew sticks out his middle finger for Neil. 

-

Renee plays the first half against the Terrapins. It’s a fairly hard match, and the Foxes have to fight hard to keep their lead. Kevin and Neil fire at the Terrapins’ goal like mad, but their new goalie is fairly good. Allison can see a vein stand out on Kevin’s temple. He’s going to yell at someone later if they lose, for sure. 

Allison clenches her teeth. Her legs are starting to burn, and a striker tried to tackle her before. Her shoulder is hurting and she scraped her knees. It’s perfect. The essence of Exy, and why Allison chose the sport over a life as a rich it-girl. 

Neil scores. The Foxes are leading with three goals. 

The Terrapins push even harder now, and Allison knows Renee is bracing herself in the goal. 

The light of the goal goes off behind Renee two minutes later. Allison can hear her grunt angrily. 

The ball is back in the game. Kevin is on his way to the other goal, and Allison knows he’s gonna score- 

And then the Terrapins backliner slams into him with his surprising speed and Kevin tries to swerve- and misses. 

“Fuck.”, Allison hisses under her breath. 

The Terrapins score another goal, rendering the Foxes only one goal in the lead. Three more minutes to go. 

Allison risks a quick glance over her shoulder to Renee, who stands in the goal, feet apart, racket ready in her hands and determination in her eyes. 

You can do it, Allison thinks, I believe in you, babe. Don’t let them score. Her hands tighten around her racket. 

And then, with thirty seconds to go, the Terrapins’ striker gets through their defence, and is on his way to the goal. Allison pushes forward, and time seems to slow when the striker raises his racket in a high ark, shoots-

Renee throws herself at the ball, with her whole body, like an arrow shot from a bow. 

The ball lands in the net of her racket. 

The thirty seconds are up, it’s half time, and Allison runs, dropping her racket, and throws herself at Renee who has righted herself by now, and, with a little surprised “oof!” catches her in her arms. 

“Well done, babe!”, Allison grabs Renee’s helmet, and Renee grins at her, relieved and happy. 

“The only thing I was thinking was ‘I can’t let this one get in!’“, she laughs, and grabs Allison’s waist. 

“And you didn’t! Well done!”, Allison adds proudly, then bumps her helmet against Renee’s. “Come on, I need water.” 

Together, they leave the court. 

-

Weeks later, they win against the Ravens.

Ever since Riko’s death, the Ravens haven’t been what they used to be, robbed of their merciless leader, they’re just a bunch of directionless fanatics. 

With every goal the Foxes score, the play becomes fouler. Neil’s nose is bleeding, Dan is hiding a limp and Kevin is covered in red and blue spots and has a split lip. The only untouched one is Andrew back in the goal. 

The mood is tense. Foxhole Court is filled to the brim with spectators. Everyone wants to see the match between the two arch enemy teams, and everyone at Palmetto wants to see the Foxes destroy the Ravens. And they do. 

Andrew makes it seem almost effortless to keep the goal clean, and Renee when it’s Renee’s turn, the backliners manage to keep the Ravens away from the goal so well that Renee only has to hold two shots. 

It’s glorious for the Foxes and awfully embarrassing for the Ravens. 

And then the game is over, and it’s 7-0 for the Foxes. 

Allison can hear Kevin bellow triumphantly (although she suspects he only dares this because he’s rather close to Andrew right now). 

She takes off her helmet, and gives the Raven striker who is closest to her a toothy smile. “Sorry, love.” Her voice drips with cattiness and sarcasm. Exactly that striker was the reason why one of Allison’s nail had chipped, and she is not about to forgive that. 

The striker takes off his helmet as well, stalking towards her with big strides. Allison doesn’t step back. “You’ll be sorry when someone rapes you in the parking lot later, fucking cunt.” 

Allison’s fist clenches around her racket, but she just holds her chin high and looks him in the eyes. “Oh, do you have such a small penis that you have to resort to rape threats when you have nothing else to say? Poor darling. Now go cry in the changing room.” 

“You fucking bitch, I’m gonna-” He lunges forward, and now Allison does take a step back. However, nothing happens. Well, something does happen: the striker grunts, and then he’s on the floor of the court and Renee is stepping over him. She is still smiling like an angel, and reaching out for Allison. 

“Everything alright, baby?”, she asks, and acts as if she doesn’t notice she stepped on the striker’s hand. 

Allison nods. “Yeah. Someone’s a sore loser, that’s all.”

Renee gives the striker on the floor a mild glance. “He’s going to have plenty of opportinuties to learn to be a better loser in the near future, I’d say. Come on, let’s celebrate.” 

She pulls Allison’s knuckles to her lips and kisses them, and then they leave the court hand in hand.


	29. Mittens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt was: andreil kissing each others' knuckles! by hail-the-angel on tumblr. Thank you!

Every year, it seems like everyone, themselves included, is surprised when the weather has the audacity to become cold again.

What annoys Neil most is that his lungs start hurting when he goes for his morning run. The cold air cuts into them like a thousand tiny Andrews wielding tiny knives. So, after two weeks of enduring that, he finally caves in and buys new thermo workout gear, also getting some for Andrew. 

He leaves it out on the dinner table for Andrew to find, not wanting to officially gift it to him. 

And so, it doesn’t take long until Andrew emerges from the kitchen, the workout gear in hand. Neil has gotten him the same he’s gotten himself: a breathable hoodie (black), thick workout socks (black), a new, breathable hat (black) and matching mittens. 

“What’s this?” 

Andrew holds the clothes out toward Neil. 

“Clothes.”, Neil replies. Andrew cocks one eyebrow. “...warm ones.”, he adds. 

Andrew sorts through the single articles, holding the hoodie to his chest, regards the hat and the socks, and then frowns at the mittens. 

“Are you serious, Josten? What am I, a toddler?” 

Neil stands up from his seat on the sofa, and walks over to Andrew, taking the mittens from him. “They’re really warm.” 

Andrew looks up at him and Neil can’t stop himself from smiling. “...promised. Look-” He tentatively grabs one of Andrew’s hands. Andrew lets him. “-your knuckles are already cracking from the cold. You need something to keep your fingers warm.” 

Andrew still just looks at him, deadpan. 

Neil lifts Andrew’s hand to his mouth. “...I’d hate for your fingers to freeze off...” 

“Stop being silly.”, Andrew scolds, but it comes out soft enough that Neil knows he doesn’t mean it. 

“But I am... I’d be very sad if they would...”, he smiles, and then presses a kiss to Andrew’s cracked, rough knuckles, those knuckles who have punched enough people for ten lifetimes. He keeps his eyes on Andrew’s when he does it, and maybe, Andrew blushes. Just the tiniest bit. 

He pulls his hand away, but Neil knows he’s won. 

-

The next day, it starts snowing, and when Andrew goes out for his mandatory run (which he hates), he is wearing the mittens.


	30. Andreil- fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sweeties, thank you for your support all throughout the year. Reading your comments always makes my day. Merry christmas, happy holidays and have a good time. Come talk to me on tumblr (marmelade-sky.tumblr.com)! :)

Andrew startles awake so hard that he forgets how to breathe for a moment. Neil is up the second after him, because Andrew’s whole body has spasmed so hard that the bed has leaped forward a little. 

“Drew?” Neil blearily turns around to Andrew, who is sitting up and breathing hard, eyes wide, fingers curled into the covers. 

“Nightmare?”, Neil asks. He doesn’t touch Andrew. Andrew doesn’t like to be touched after a bad dream. 

Andrew just grunts in response, and slowly steadies his breath, unclenches his fingers and unlocks his shoulders. 

“Yes or no?” Neil is surprised to hear the question, but quickly answers “Yes.”, and then, Andrew’s hand is in his hair and on his face, touching him, making sure he’s real and here. Neil lets him, closing his eyes, holding still as Andrew’s thumb presses into the scar on his cheekbone. 

“…you wanna get up?”, he asks after a while. His voice is sleepy and rough around the edges. 

“No.”, Andrew replies. “…turn back around.”

Neil does. 

“Yes or no?”, Andrew asks again, and Neil nods. “Yes, Andrew.”

Whatever Andrew needed, he’d give it to him. 

A moment later, he feels Andrew aligning himself with his body, chest to Neil’s back, front of his legs against the back of Neil’s, right arm draped over Neil gently. 

It makes Neil’s stomach become all warm. Andrew buries his nose in the back of Neil’s neck and in his hair, and Neil swears he can hear him inhale deeply. 

They fall asleep like this. 

-

When Neil wakes up, Andrew still hasn’t let go off him. His right arm is curled around Neil possessively, hand against his breastbone, one leg thrown over Neil’s in his sleep. Neil can feel Andrew’s breath against his shoulder, even and warm. 

He looks at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 5:56. Normally, time for his morning run. 

Today, Neil decides, he’s just going to stay in bed a little longer.


	31. Andrew protecting Nicky

Actually, it was Erik’s fault. It was all Erik’s fault-

Erik’s fault that Nicky was drunk as a sailor right now, Erik’s fault that Nicky still felt like he was going to cry, even though his mouth was burning from vodka and cracker dust, and it was also Erik’s fault that Nicky was grinding with a stranger right now. 

Nicky hadn’t even looked at the guy’s face, not really, they all looked the same under the strobe light anyway. 

As the guy’s hands grabbed Nicky’s hips, all Nicky was thinking about was the stupid, the idiotic fight him and Erik had had this afternoon. So stupid. Of course it wasn’t Nicky’s fault at all. Not even a little. Long distance sucks. 

“Ayy, baby, you wanna get out of here?” 

The guy’s voice was barely audible through the loud, heavily thumping bass on Eden’s dancefloor. 

Nicky shook his head. No, he didn’t want to. All he wanted was dance and get his mind off of Erik and their fight and how much he missed Erik. 

That was when the guy’s hands started wandering. Up, pushing at the hem of Nicky’s black shirt- Nicky grabbed the guy’s wrists, but the alcohol made his movements slurred and his grip weaker than it would normally be, and so the guy managed to push one of his hands under Nicky’s shirt. 

Nicky tried pulling away- he didn’t like this at all. Only Erik was allowed to do this… He managed to shake the guy off, but when he spun around, the world kept spinning even when Nicky stood still.   
The guy caught Nicky’s elbow, but wouldn’t let go when Nicky yanked it back-

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that-” 

“I have a boyfriend!”, Nicky tried, but fuck, was he drunk. It came out in a slurred jumble of words, and the loud music didn’t make it any better. Shit, he was pretty positive that he was about to vomit any minute. 

He’d have aim for the guy because he wouldn’t let Nicky go, still tugging on his elbow, one arm now snaking around Nicky’s waist.

“Come on, I live two streets over.” Lights blurred by, there were people, Nicky was touching people accidentally as he was being dragged away from the crowd, towards the exit-

and then, suddenly, the arms holding Nicky up were gone, sending him stumbling against something hard- a wall?   
No, Kevin. Kevin who actually held him up with a pissed off look on his face. 

“Kevin?!”, Nicky slurred, “what…” He forgot halfway through what he had been about to ask. 

“Andrew.” Kevin sounded so sober… how was he sounding this sober? Nicky wondered while he lifted his head to follow Kevin’s gaze… 

…only to find Andrew, knife out, the blade glinting in the club lights, over a heap of human on the club floor. Nicky quickly looked away again- hopefully no one was about to bleed out on the floor of Eden’s tonight. 

Andrew was righting himself at Kevin’s voice. The guy did not. 

“We’re leaving.”

-

The next morning, Nicky woke to a text from Erik. 

_Guten Morgen mein kleiner Fuchs, unser Streit gestern tut mir leid… und das sage ich jetzt nicht nur wegen der Todesdrohung in Text-Form, die ich gestern Nacht noch von einer unbekannten Nummer erhalten habe. Telefonieren? Ich vermisse dich… hasse es, wenn wir streiten. ♥ liebe dich_

_(Good morning my little fox, I’m sorry about our fight last night… and I’m not just saying that because of the death threat text I received from an anonymous number last night. Call me? I miss you… hate it when we fight. ♥ love you)_


	32. Andreil- "I think I know this song" ft. the cats

“Neil, if you don’t get rid of this thing I’m going to dump it in the trash can right now.” 

“Huh?” Neil looks up from his laptop to see Andrew by the kitchen counter, a box of pop tarts in hand, the toaster running, and Sir Fat Cat McCatterson sitting by the toaster, curiously sniffing the contents of it. 

“Just push him off, Andrew.”

“No. He’s filthy. I don’t want to have to wash my hands before I touch my breakfast.”

“You’d get your hands dirty if you’d stuff him into the trash can as well.” 

Neil tries not to laugh at the scowl Andrew sends him. 

“Sir… come here…. kitty kitty, come here!” Sir looks up from the toaster, his yellow eyes finding Neil. “…d’you wan’ a treeeeat?”, Neil asks and Andrew rolls his eyes very, very hard at the borderline baby talk. 

“Yes you dooooo!”, Neil cooes when Sir abandons the toaster in favor of hopping off the counter and begging for a piece of Neil’s breakfast burrito. Neil drops him a little piece of ham. 

“You’re giving him treats for begging.”, Andrew scolds lowly as his pop tart is catapulted out of the toaster and onto his plate. Andrew takes a moment to appreciate how satisfying that is before he turns back around. 

Meanwhile, Sir has gotten comfortable on Neil’s lap, peeking over the edge of the table, eyeing Neil’s burrito.

“Andrew, look, he’s watching Exy with me.”, Neil grins.

Andrew lets out a disgusted noise before he leaves the kitchen with his pop tart and coffee. 

“You know he loves you.”, Neil says to Sir as they watch their Minyard leave. Sir gives a pleasant little meow as if to say “of course I do”. 

Neil has to go on a PR trip and Andrew hates it. Fucking work. Fucking Exy. Bullshit. 

Since Neil is absent, Andrew is in charge of the two beasts. Stupid idiot animals. 

The first night, Andrew locks them out of the bedroom. They don’t like it and scratch on the door until Andrew caves in and begrungingly lets them back in. Sir curls up on Andrew’s left and King is even brave enough to try and sleep on Andrew’s chest. Stupid fucking idiot cats. 

Neil notices it, of course, as soon as he’d been home for a few hours. Andrew and the cats. 

He’s in the bedroom, unpacking his duffle bag, when he hears Andrew’s voice from the living room, interrupted by soft little ‘meow’s. He stops unpacking and listens. 

“What are you doing, cat?”

“Mrow…” A bit of shuffling, than another happy little “Mew…”

A grin starts tugging on Neil’s lips. He’s 99% sure the cat that Andrew is talking to is King.

“Are you comfortable?”, Andrew asks dryly. King must have sat down in his lap. 

“Mroooowr.” 

“What are you trying to tell me.”

Neil has to stifle a laugh, palm pressed to his mouth. King replies with another longer, louder noise. 

“You know what, cat, I think I know this song. It’s called Shut the Fuck Up.” 

King meows as if to agree.

Neil can’t keep the laughter inside anymore. Both Andrew and the cat fall silent when they hear Neil’s undignified snort. 

Then, Andrew speaks again. “King, sing it again so Neil gets the message as well.”


	33. Renison- distractions

Frankly, it’s just such a nuisance. 

But Allison can’t help it. 

The word “GAY” in rainbow letters flashes before her eyes as she watches Renee deadlift the same weight most of the boys (safe for Andrew and Matt) do. She tries very hard to look busy while she does her bodyweight excercises, but she’s pretty sure she fails spectacularly when Renee’s biceps bunch, the muscles in her back stand out and her thighs clench as she hauls the weight off the floor.

God dammit. 

There’s a droplet of sweat that’s idly making its way down between Renee’s shoulderblades. Allison allows herself to imagine how it would be to lick it off her for just a moment before she goes back to doing some half-hearted curl-ups. 

When she sits back up, she’s immediately confronted with the sight of Renee doing pull ups. 

Allison blinks once, twice, and then just lies back down again. 

God fucking dammit.


	34. Kiss me hard before you go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Yes, I'm still alive. This chapter was inspired by Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness and let's just say... there's FEELS.  
> ♥

It’s the day that neither of them expected to come so soon. They have lost themselves in wrong promises of time they didn’t have, and time that has passed too fast, even if it’s been so long that it makes Neil’s head spin when he thinks back. 

Tomorrow, Andrew is leaving.

He’s got a contract, he’ll be playing Exy for a living, it’s all over every Exy and Sports magazine. Nicky has been sending them pictures of Andrew’s face all over the sports news, even in Germany. 

It’s perfect, it’s the future Neil wants for them, and he’s happy for Andrew.

 

And yet.  
And yet, it hurts so badly. It hurts worse than any bullet wound.  
It hits Neil like a truck the day before Andrew leaves. Finally, after weeks, months of blissful ignorance, he wakes, and there it is: the definite knowledge that Andrew will be gone come tomorrow. 

It feels like being hit by a car; that moment before the pain sets in, internally checking the damage; what works, what’s broken. It presses all the air out of Neil’s lungs, and makes his heart ache as he watches Andrew’s chest rise and fall calmly next to him. 

They’re in Colombia. It’s easier like that, closer to the airport. One last day and night together. For old time’s sake. It’s disorienting that there even is something like “old time” between them. 

 

They spend the day like every other day in Columbia: bacon for breakfast, TV, napping, ice cream, cigarettes, reading next to each other on the sofa, locked away from the unbearable heat outside. 

They get KFC for dinner. Outside, the sun is slowly going down. The day, their last day, is slowly coming to an end, minute by minute. Neil tucks himself under Andrew’s arm. 

 

They go to bed much too late. The cicadas outside are chirping, and the summer night is heady and heavy, thick air and bright stars. Andrew opens every window in the bedroom, letting in the soft night time breeze.  
Neil undresses until he’s wearing nothing but his briefs, and Andrew does the same. The armbands lie tangled together somewhere on the floor of the room, have been lying there since they arrived the night before, proof that there are no secrets between them.  
“Yes or no?” Whispered softly, carried by the warm air, making Neil’s head swim in anticipation.  
“Always yes.” 

Andrew kisses him, and Neil feels his bones melt like a popsicle in this heat.  
Their mouths crash, longingly, already missing each other, trying to say as much as they can without speaking before they have to part. 

Hands trace over scarred skin, lips nip at pulse points, fingers bury themselves in hair. 

They start sweating almost instantly. It feels like it’s always been like this: their skin sticking together, slick and hot, and it feels like it’s going to be like this forever. 

Neil presses his mouth against Andrew’s shoulder, tastes the salt of his sweat.  
He wants to say ‘Don’t go.’ and ‘I don’t want you to go.’ and ‘Stay with me.’ but he doesn’t because he knows Andrew will if Neil only asks him to. 

So instead, he drags his tongue all over Andrew’s neck and drinks in the shivers the movement produces, and then, as quietly as he can, and yet, so loud in between the cicadas and the faint noise of the street outside, whispers: “I’ll miss you.”

Fingertips did harder into Neil’s arms, grounding, reassuring- Andrew is here, he is here, still- as Andrew tenses-

but after a moment, the tension dissolves, and the hard grip becomes a push as Andrew moves Neil towards the bed. Every kiss is a reply, because even if Andrew can’t say it back, he still feels it back. 

_I’ll miss you, too._

The edge of the bed meets the back of Neil’s knees, and the sheets are cold for about thirty seconds before they start warming up under Neil’s hot, sweaty, sticky back. 

Andrew settles between Neil’s thighs that part for him so readily. 

More hot kisses become more hot touches become more and more more more. 

It’s dark enough that Neil only sees Andrew’s outline on top of him; the full moon outside illuminates Andrew’s features just barely, but Neil doesn’t have to see him; feeling him is enough. 

His legs lock around Andrew’s waist when Andrew finally, painfully slowly, pushes into him, on his knees and elbows, covering Neil, catching the moans falling from Neil’s lips with his own. 

“Drew...” 

“Hold on to me-” Andrew’s hands grab Neil’s wrists and guide them, and Neil wraps his arms around Andrew’s shoulders, and they’re so close to each other; the closest two people can be. Andrew’s breath is hot on Neil’s cheek. 

“-hold on, I’ve got you.” 

Neil isn’t sure when he started crying; everything is overwhelming, because this is Andrew, his Andrew, and scary words like love and future and away are suddenly so close, squeezing their way between their touching united bodies. 

“I’ve got you, Neil-” Andrew’s voice is shaky, too, and then, he moves, gently, slowly, and Neil gulps for air-

“Drew...” Toes curling, fingernails digging into broad shoulders. “Drew...” It’s like a prayer on Neil’s lips, the most beautiful and the most painful. 

“I miss you, Drew, I miss you already...” Pants, moans, deeper, slower. Neil buries his face in the crook of Andrew’s neck, letting the soft little gasps catch there and hang on to Andrew’s skin, sink into it, become part of him. 

Andrew’s lips latch on to Neil’s neck, and he sucks hard enough to leave a mark; a souvenier, a good-bye, a promise. 

Neil comes, softly gasping out his prayer once more, and Andrew holds him through it, keeping him safe like it’s nothing, and maybe it is. Their nothing. 

Andrew comes, then, too, hips stuttering for a moment as he spends himself into Neil.

After it’s over, Andrew sags on top of him, but doesn’t crush Neil, still keeping his weight off him. His lips are still by Neil’s ear, and Neil’s face is still pressed against Andrew’s shoulder.

“I’m always just a phone call away, Neil, no matter where on this piece of shit earth I am. One phonecall.”

It’s barely a whisper, but the warm wind from outside carries it, makes it loud enough for Neil to hear.

-

The words still burn in Neil’s heart when Neil drives back from the airport. They burn and burn, hotter than the sun on his arm hanging out of the driver’s window.


	35. tummy aches (Andreil)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! :) this chapter was prompted by my lovely friend vivi (fox-sleeping-minyard on tumblr). Enjoy!  
> Also, if you want to support me and my writing, head on over to [my tumblr](marmelade-sky.tumblr.com) :)

Andrew can’t believe ice cream has wronged him like this. 

He lies on his side, curled around a couch cushion, angrily trying to ignore the pain and rumbling in his tummy and definitely not missing the time when he was able to eat a whole pint of peanut butter chocolate without feeling like crap after. Fuck his stupid, healthy new meal plan. Fuck professional Exy. Kevin can shove his turnips and his kale right up his ass. 

“Andrew? What’s wrong?” And fuck Neil and his compassion. 

Andrew doesn’t answer.  
“Andrew, are you okay? I just need a yes or no please.” He sounds genuinly concerned. Andrew still hates him just as much as he did back when he returned from Easthaven. 

“Do I look okay?” He has to press it out between his teeth. 

“Are you in pain?! Andrew, what happened?” The couch cushion dips behind Andrew as Neil sits down on it. His voice turns more serious, more gravelly, “Do I need to call Abby? A doctor?”

“Fuck off, I just need some pepto bismol.” Andrew half-turns around to glare at Neil, but the ferocity of his stare is lost when he winces halfway through. Neil looks down at him, first in disbelief, then in vague amusement. 

“Did you eat a whole pint of ice cream again?”

“You’re an asshole, Josten.”

“I’ll get you some pepto. And a warm water bottle.” 

“I don’t need your-”

But Neil is already on his way to the kitchen. 

As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, one of the fur beasts jumps on the couch, already purring. Andrew half-heartedly kicks at it, but misses, and so the little monster actually stalks up his leg and possesses the audacity to sit down on the couch cushion Andrew is currently hugging. Their eyes meet. 

“You really deserved to have your balls cut off, you know.”, Andrew growls over the rumbling in his stomach. 

The cat just meows and then starts making fucking biscuits on the pillow and Andrew’s arm. 

Predictably, Neil cooes at the monster when he returns from the kitchen. “Aw, King! He’s trying to make you feel better, Andrew. Good kitty.” 

With a little splooshy noise, Neil places the hot water bottle on the side of Andrew’s tummy, and the pepto bismol on the coffee talble. 

“I’d like to lie down with you, that okay?”, he then asks. 

Andrew broods in silence for a moment before he nods. 

Neil lowers himself onto the couch behind Andrew, all but spooning him. He’s warm and he covers Andrew’s whole backside. Andrew can feel and hear him breathe. 

The warmth from the hot water bottle and the purring cat on his stomach aren’t so bad either. 

Andrew reaches behind himself until he can grab Neil’s hand, and then wraps Neil’s arm around him, placing the scarred hand between the hot water bottle and the fabric of his shirt.

Neil stays silent, but after a while, his thumb gently starts rubbing up and down.

 

Andrew doesn’t need the medicine in the end.


	36. Soothing the Ache (omegaverse!Andreil)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is an omegaverse!AU oneshot with omega!Neil on his period. There's blood and period pain mentioned, so be warned ;)

Neil hates this, hates waking up to a tearing pain in his tummy, swelling in his scent glands and the feeling of blood making his thighs stick together. He startles out of sleep the second he realizes what’s going on, wide awake from one moment to the other. 

He has to jump out of bed and waddle to the bathroom, clenching hard to prevent more blood from spilling; as he reaches the door of their dorm room, he can hear Andrew stir in bed behind him. 

Neil hurries to the bathroom, already internally pissed as hell. Why now? Why today? He has classes to attend, and Exy practice. 

Back when he was on the run with his Mom, she used to give him suppressants- not always the same brand, and not always the right dosage for him, which has messed up his cycle and is the reason why Abby forbade him to take them anymore. At least he didn’t have to deal with this bullshit back then. 

Neil hates his period. It makes him feel like he’s being ripped open from the inside, and as if he’s literally, well, open. It’s disgusting and it hurts and is guaranteed to get him into a bad mood. 

He doesn’t know how long he stays in the bathroom, just glad to relax his aching muscles. His thighs are bloody, and he knows that he needs a shower. He just can’t quite get himself to stand up and turn on the shower, it seems like too much effort.

“Neil?” There’s a knock in the door. Andrew. 

A mewl escapes Neil; his Alpha is here. It’s such a base emotion, and is snaps Neil back into motion. He gets up, shedding his ruined pyjama pants, and quickly turns on the sink to wash his hands. 

“I’m... I just got my period, don’t worry.”

Neil hears a little grunt from outside the door as he squirts soap on his hands. It’s not that Andrew is shy or sheepish about such things; he just hates it when Neil is in pain and he can’t help him. 

“Neil, can I come in?” Andrew pauses, then adds, “I don’t want you to keel over again.” Because, yeah, that’s happened before. Just once, but still. 

Neil hesitates. It’s nothing Andrew hasn’t seen before, but the idea of having someone to care for him in such a vulnerable situation is still something Neil has to get used to. 

“...yeah.” Neil unlocks the door after drying his hands. Andrew stands there, in nothing but his pyjama pants and armbands. Neil can see his Alpha’s nostrils flare for a second, but to his credit, Andrew doesn’t look down at the mess. He just steps into the bathroom and opens his arms for Neil in a silent offer. Neil can’t help it; he melts into Andrew’s embrace. 

“...I’m gonna get you all dirty.” 

“Doesn’t matter.”

Andrew holds him for at least a minute. When he starts rubbing gentle circles over Neil’s lower back, the aching eases a little and Neil sighs softly, pressing his nose into the crook of Andrew’s neck. 

“Come on, you need to shower.”, Andrew says after a while.

Neil lets himself be maneuvered into the bathtub and obeys when Andrew tells him to sit down. 

While Neil lets the warm water soothe his pain a little, Andrew goes and retrieves clean underwear and soft pants for Neil, along with one of Andrew’s (worn) shirts. 

“Thank you...”, Neil whispers, his head lolling back against the edge of the bathtub, heels propped against the opposite wall of the tub, trying to find a position that hurts less. 

“I’ve got your painkillers, too.”, Andrew says. Neil, eyes closed, hears Andrew sit down on the closed lid of the toilet, and then feels a strong hand gently comb through his sweaty, damp hair and massaging his scalp. 

Neil purrs for a moment before the pain comes back in a hard wave and makes his purring turn into a groan. “Aw, shit...”, he hisses out. 

Andrew growls softly, as if he can scare the pain away. 

\- 

Andrew insists on carrying Neil back into bed. Not that Neil minds; having showered, clean clothes and a pad make him feel a little better, but the pain is still there. He slings his arms around Andrew’s neck and lets himself be carried back to bed bridal style. 

When Andrew slides into bed behind him, Neil wiggles his butt back against him. “You don’t have to stay... you have classes...”, he whispers, even though there’s no need to whisper since Kevin is already out for some outrageous reason. Neil hates him a little for being on suppressants right now. 

“Shut up.”, Andrew replies, but it come out all soft and sappy. He wraps his arm around Neil, palm coming to rest on Neil’s lower belly and his nose pressed into Neil’s neck from behind.

Neil closes his eyes. It still hurts, of course, but being here with Andrew makes the pain matter so much less.


	37. Fredrick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron and Katelyn get a dog.

“What the fuck is that?” 

The way Andrew’s lip curls in disgust makes it seem like he’s looking at a pile of shit instead of a small dog. 

“A dog, Andrew.”, Aaron replies, drawling out the word with a level of annoyed apathy that’s so on brand for a Minyard twin.

“Your dog.”

“Katelyn’s dog.”, Aaron specifies. 

“You helped me pick him out, don’t lie.” Katelyn takes a sip of her coffee and a forkful of birthday cake. “We got him from a shelter.”, she tells Neil, who’s gently petting the dog at the moment. 

It has white, soft fur and black eyes and Neil is pretty sure it’s smaller than King. It’s also wearing a red collar.

“I found Sir in a dumpster.”, he replies, scratching the dogs ear. 

“Ah, so you’re mocking me for having this dog, but you live with a dumpster cat.” Aaron leans back in his chair, glaring at his brother who’s picking all the cherries out of his slice of cake.

“Don’t call Neil that.” Andrew entirely ignores Katelyn’s laughter.

“What’s his name?”, Neil asks. The dog puts a tiny paw on his thigh. 

Aaron looks pained as Katelyn replies “Fredrick!”. 

“That’s a nice name.”, Neil says. Fredrick is in his lap now and is tentatively sniffing in Andrew’s direction.

“Right? Aaron calls him Freddy.”

The dog places one paw into the space between Neil’s right thigh and Andrew’s left. Andrew stares at it like it’s trying to telepathically communicate that he will kill it if it dares to come any closer. 

“Andrew, maybe we should get a dog.”, Neil says, just to rile him up further.

“Only if that means we’ll kick out one of your stinking cats.” 

“Maybe I’ll kick you out and get a labrador instead.”

“Kinky.”

Aaron gives a retching noise.


End file.
